Plus One
by Team Dragon Star
Summary: Tired of being pursued by the gold-digging, glory-seeking, Satan obsessed freaks of the world, Videl will resort to the only method open to a celebrity like her to find Mr. Right.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_**Brought to you by: Sailor, SD and Gue**_

"Videl Satan, wow," he marvelled, his blue eyes staring at the beauty across the table in awe, "Satan City's crime-fighter, in the flesh, wow."

Videl gave him a weak smile and cast her eyes back to the menu. She hoped the food was good; she was really hungry. Her entire morning and afternoon was spent out of town – pulling out survivors of a collapsed bridge. The desperate emergency forces of Gold City had called on Satan City, Blue City, and White City for reinforcements, and the young Satan City heroine had been amongst the volunteers.

"_Thee_ Videl Satan, wow." Her date cupped his cheeks, leaning forward with his elbows on the table.

"Yes, you've said that fifty times already." Videl sighed as she scanned over the menu with her perfectly manicured nails. So far, this date was a bust. To think, she'd let Erasa drag her out to an exclusive boutique for this overpriced outfit she was wearing. What a waste.

"The champ's daughter herself, incredible," he revered, his eyes practically sparkling.

Videl rolled her eyes in irritation. The guy had been interesting enough in all their conversations on-line, but since meeting her face to face, since finding out her real identity… he was turning out to be like all the rest.

"I still can't get over it. So you're _thee_ Videl Satan, wow." He leaned even further across the table, nearly toppling his wine glass over. He was practically gushing over the realization of whom he'd been lucky enough to meet anonymously on-line. "Videl Satan, wow. I can't believe it."

"Try," Videl muttered dryly, flipping her menu.

"Wait till I tell the guys about this." He sighed happily. "They all laughed at me, you know. They called me a desperado when they found out about, you know…going out to dinner with a girl I met on the Internet. Ha! Who's got the last laugh now, guys? To think that Justice123 is actually Videl Satan. Videl Satan!" he exclaimed in triumph.

Videl gritted her teeth.

"But you're Videl Satan, I don't understand, why?"

"Why?" She looked up from her menu and quirked her brow.

"Yeah, I mean…you're beautiful, intelligent, rich, and you're Videl Satan! Why would you go on-line to meet people? It doesn't make any sense."

"It makes perfect sense," she snapped, shutting the menu and slamming it on the table. "Every guy that's ever asked me out has been interested in either my father, my money, or my fame. I'd hoped to meet someone anonymously, someone who liked me for me. So I went online and assumed the name Justice123, but clearly that didn't work either. Since meeting me, all you've been interested in is my name!" She pushed her chair back and stood up. "This date is so over, I'm outta here."

"Videl, wait." He pushed his own chair back and grabbed her arm. "I'm not like those other guys I swear. Your real identity just took me by surprise. I like Justice - the girl I talked with online, I liked her just fine, I really do. I wouldn't have come out here tonight to meet her in person if I didn't. Your real identity just...caught me off guard...please…sit down," he pleaded softly.,"I was just a little star-struck, I'm over it now."

Videl sighed, but relented. Sky24 and Justice123 had met on Getting-to-know-you dot com, hitting it off immediately. They'd chatted for hours and hours some nights, and they'd had some great laughs. Perhaps she should give him another opportunity to acclimatize to her identity.

She sat back down.

"Just for argument's sake though," Sky24 said, "you think you could…you know, introduce me, to your dad? I want to take a thousand photos with him. I mean, he's the champ! That's like…huge!"

Humph! Videl grabbed her purse and stormed out. She was so out of here.

...

Thankfully she picked up on the first ring.

"Hey stranger," she chirped, and Gohan could hear the smile in her voice on the other end of the line. It was always infectious. He smiled back.

"Hey," he said tiredly, doodling something with a bitten-down pencil on the report staring back at him from his large desk. He always doodled when he was nervous.

"Let me guess." Her voice was vibrant and loud, "burning the midnight-oil again? This is your office line." She spoke with more than just a hint of disapproval.

"Not my fault. They gave me a new project on my way out of the door, literally." He sighed.

"For crying out loud, Gohan, it's a Friday night, you could have left it until Monday, ya know, " she chastised.

"Are you kidding me, Lime? A bridge in Gold City collapsed out of the blue and killed more than a hundred people, and no one has any idea why. The public is in an uproar over there, and the board wants answers by Monday morning. I'll be working all weekend on this one." He tapped his teeth with his pencil.

"Working all weekend as usual," the beauty on the other end of the line said dispassionately, "and yet, you don't even sound resentful about it. What's wrong with you Gohan?" Her voice rose by an inch of an inflection.

"Resentful?" He blinked into the phone. "How can I be resentful when it's such an interesting case? I mean, don't get me wrong, of course I'm not happy about the people that died over there, if I had known sooner I would have flown over to help out, but..." His voice lost its regret and gained an air of excitement. "I have the blue-prints to the original design of the bridge and the geotechnical reports submitted by the investigating team in front of me right now, and I'm telling you Lime, just from these preliminary calculations, I can already tell that these designs didn't take into account the vigorous scour that was going to affect the main-"

"Hold it! Hold up nerd-brain!" she interrupted his eager tirade, "did you really call me up on a Friday night just to bore me to death with technical details about your work?" she demanded.

"Uh…well, no. Sorry," Gohan said sheepishly. Even though he couldn't see her, he knew exactly the disgusted look she bore on her face. "Sorry Lime, I know how much my job bores you." He sighed. "I guess I can't help but talk about it since it's the only thing I ever get to see day in and day out. "

As an intern, his desk was piled with old cases that had never been solved.

"Aaw, poor Gohan, abused by his bosses, you want me to come over there and kick their asses?" She chuckled at her own lame joke.

"No thanks Lime, that's not the kind of favour I need. I need a favour of a different kind…" He let his sentence hang, already cringing in anticipation of her reaction.

"Again?" Lime's voice lost its cheerfulness. Gohan could very well picture the frown etched on her face, and he didn't blame her. This would be the third time this month. He was such a loser.

"Please Lime, just one more time, please?"

"You said that last time," she said in a clipped tone. She was far from impressed.

"I know I did, but I didn't expect there to be another work function so soon. It's a fundraiser this time, and I have to be there. Please Lime, I don't wanna have to go alone. " He pouted, that always worked on her.

"Gohan, you said you'd ask that girl from your office – Kirsty. You said you were gonna ask her out last time. When are you going to do it? I can't keep being your plus-one for these things. It's just sad really," she reminded him.

At the mention of Kirsty's name, Gohan winced.

"_Hi Kirsty." His tongue felt heavy and numb as his insides twisted. The dark-haired structural engineer didn't even look up from her stack of reports._

"_What do you want, Son?" she asked absently._

"_Um…" He scratched his scalp." I was just…um…wondering if I could ask you something?"_

_Her brows creased in displeasure as she cast her brown eyes up at him. "Do I have Encyclopedia or Google written across my forehead?" she snapped at him irritably._

"_Huh? No, I don't mean something like that, I meant something…erm…personal." He gulped, slipping his hands into his pockets._

"_Oh I'm sorry." She pushed up the bridge of her spectacles with her middle finger. "Did my ignoring of you and of the other interns these past few weeks give you the impression that we were friends?"_

"_I…"_

"_Well, we're not. Now go away please, I have work to do," she dismissed._

_It was like being punched in the gut by Buu all over again - so much for 'manning up'._

"So, did you ask her out or not?" Lime demanded on the other end of the line.

Gohan scratched his head. "Well, I…no, not really, no," he said lamely.

The sigh from the green-eyed girl was loud and exasperated. "Gohan, a girlfriend is not going to fall onto your lap you know, you have to man up and take chances, geez!"

"I know." He rubbed his temples. "It's not easy for me, talking to girls my own age. I'm just not used to it, that's all."

"Sometimes I could just kick your mother, you know that? She should have let you out more. She should have at least let you go to high school. You would have met many great girls there, I'm sure of it." Lime sighed regretfully.

"I don't know about that, Lime. Girls just mostly ignore me. I'm sure it would have been the same in high school as well."

"You still don't get how handsome you are. Girls are just too shy to even look at you , it's not that they're trying to ignore you."

"_Oh I'm sorry." She pushed up the bridge of her spectacles with her middle finger. "Did my ignoring of you and of the rest of the interns these past few weeks give you the impression that we were friends?"_

"Sure Lime, sure. I'm sure that's what it is," he said dryly. "I can't talk for long anyway, I have to get back to this investigation. So, will you be my plus-one for this fundraiser?"

"You abuse me because I know all your secrets, you know that? Fine," she grumbled. "I'll be your plus-one, again," she said unhappily.

"Great!" Gohan beamed, what a relief!

"So, when is this thing anyway?"

"On the fourteenth of Feb-"

"What?" she screeched.

"Err…" Gohan had to hold the receiver away from his ears. Man, that was loud.

"No way Gohan, I have a date. Do you even know what the fourteenth of Feburary is?"

"Err…"

"It's Valentine's day moron, and I can't tag along with you on Valentine's day. I have an actual date, with a real guy."

"What do you mean by _real_? I'm real," he said, his voice wounded.

"No, you're not. You're my friend, there's a difference. Stan might actually put-out, you know?" She laughed.

"Put…out? Put out what?" He blinked in confusion.

"Oh Gohan, you're so sad and adorable. Twenty-one years old and you're still so sheltered. I mean, he might actually take me home and have wicked sex with me." She grinned, knowing exactly how scandalized he would be.

"LIME!" He flushed immediately with embarrassment. "You shouldn't say such things."

"Urgh, stop being such a prude mountain-boy. In any case, I'm sorry, I can't bail you out, not this time."

He knew that tone well, she meant it. He paled. "But I'm desperate, please Lime."

"If you're really that desperate, then do what every other 'desperado' in the city does when they're in a tight spot."

"And what's that?"

"Internet dating Gohan, Internet dating."

…

Videl pulled off her heels and quietly tip-toed across the mansion. She didn't want to risk bumping into her father - he would ask too many questions about her evening. She slipped into her room and unzipped her now ruined overpriced dress. She giggled as she wiggled herself out of it, thinking of the fun she'd had after ditching Sky24.

After bailing on the blue-eyed bore, she'd stormed out of the restaurant and walked the streets of Satan City feeling rather pissed at the world. She was still hungry, and was indiscriminately looking for a fast-food place to grab some quick take-out when trouble found her.

Ah, the joy of kicking scumbags was just the pick-me-up the evening warranted. Some idiot junkies had made the mistake of trying to rob her...that did not end very well for them. Ah well, it was just as well the dress got ripped in the fight - it's not as if she was ever going to wear it again.

Now that she was home, she opted for comfort – her favourite oversized t-shirt thrown over some baby-blue pajama bottoms. It was still a bit early to sleep so she scanned her book-shelf - Spectrophotometry, Criminal Psychology, Forensic Anthropology, Ballistics, and other textbooks pertaining to her Masters Program lined the array of wooden shelves. The deadline for her thesis was coming up, but she couldn't be bothered tonight. She sat down on her desk and opened her laptop.

"I guess I can't be Justice anymore. That idiot, Sky, is probably still lurking around here," she muttered as she deleted Justice123. It was time to set up a new profile.

"Hmm...what name shall I use?"

…

Early Saturday morning, after spending the night at his office working on the Gold City bridge case, a sleep deprived Gohan walked out of his office building and ordered breakfast at the only place still open – a 24 hour burger joint. It was 04:00 AM and he wanted to fly over to Gold City to the site of the collapsed bridge for his own analysis before a team of other appointed inspectors could arrive.

Even though he was just an intern, on his very first assignment, he had made an observation on the designs of a bridge that, overlooked, could have resulted in a disaster. The senior engineer of the inspections board had noticed him and from that day forward, all high profile projects always passed by his desk. It was flattering, but a nuisance at the same time – these days he was so busy he never had any time for himself.

He ate quickly and flew 2000 km to the site in Gold City fully equipped with his gear. He was quick with his inspection, only doing it to verify what he had already deduced from his calculations. It took him about an hour to validate his findings, and then he flew home to get a well deserved rest.

It was late afternoon when he finally woke up. The house was quiet; his mother and father were out visiting with his grandpa, and Goten was spending the weekend in West City with Trunks as usual. Thankfully his mother had left a mountain of food for him, so he settled down for an afternoon snack, wondering if he should go up to the Lookout to visit Piccolo and Dende.

The shrill ringing of his phone brought him out of his musings. _'I should really change that ring tone, _he thought as he picked up.

"Son Gohan?," the voice prompted when he picked up.

"Err…yes ?" He immediately swallowed the last bit of his bread and dusted off the breadcrumbs from his mouth and clothes nervously. It didn't even occur to him that the person on the other end of the line couldn't see him.

"This is Marcy calling from Public Relations. I'm sorry to disturb you on the weekend," she began, her voice everything but apologetic, "I was just finalizing the seating arrangements for the fundraiser ball and I realized that I don't have the name for your plus-one?"

"Oh, erm…yeah, about that…it's…I…I was just going to come alone."

"Oh. Well, that's awkward since the theme is Famous Couples," she muttered more to herself than to him. "You do realize that it will be Valentine's day right? The seating arrangements are tables for two, so it will be a bit weird if you're seated alone."

"Oh, well, okay, I guess I could…I don't know," he said uncertainly. Why would they do that? It was a work function for crying out loud! Why were they deliberately turning it into some kind of couple's thing?

"Look, err…Gohan is it?" Her voice cut through his whiny thoughts. "The fundraiser is in two weeks so there's plenty of time to invite someone and email me their name okay? I'll drop you an email."

"Um…yeah, thanks," he said, but she had already hung up.

_Okay Lime, looks like I'm officially a 'desperado' now. Let's see about this Internet dating thing._

…

In the midst of thundering helicopters, police sirens and flashing ambulance lights, seated on the bonnet of a police vehicle behind the yellow tape - Videl bit down hard on her bottom lip and tried not to cry.

This was a disaster. This was the tourist bus scenario all over again.

"You saved lots of lives Videl, just remember that." The chief tried to comfort her.

Videl merely shook her head. "But I didn't save all of them! I wasn't…I wasn't fast enough!" She turned her face away from him, the burn of her failure scorching her soul raw.

Maybe she should have carried a gun like the chief had suggested, at least then, she might have been able to shoot that last robber before he'd killed the guard. By the time her foot had landed on the back of his neck, he had already fired, and now…

"You did what you could, we all did," the chief said calmly, taking a seat next to her on the bonnet. "Now go home and get some rest Videl." His tone was uncharacteristically firm - he wasn't asking.

Videl could only nod in agreement. She picked herself up, her hands trembling at the sight of her blood-soaked shirt. It's not that she had a problem with blood it's just that, most of the time it was hers or some punk robbers. But this time, this blood...

"_T-Thank...y-you Ms Satan, you...you...saved us." The guard stammered, choking on his own blood as Videl held him. In less than a second, he was dead._

She climbed into her copter and set it on autopilot, her mind was far from clear. She just curled up on the seat and fought the urge to cry. It was turning out to be one hell of a weekend: the bridge yesterday – so much damage, so many wounded, so many dead. And now today, that poor guard...she shut her eyes, trying to shut out the images.

It was early evening when she made it home. The disappointment in herself was so fierce that she immediately hit her training room, if only she had been faster, if only she'd taken him out first, if only...if only...but no matter how hard she kicked and punched, the failure remained rooted deep within her. The training wasn't helping.

She abandoned the useless punching bags and headed out towards the kitchen.

It was just as well that her dad was out, she didn't feel much like company tonight. She ordered a light meal from the chef on-duty and headed up-stairs to her room. While they prepared her dinner, Videl took a quick shower and changed into some comfortable clothes.

She ate quickly, hardly tasting her food and quickly placed her tray outside her door. She climbed into bed and scoured the television channels for something mind-numbing and frivolous to watch.

It didn't take long for her temper to reach boiling point though...

"Urgh! I'm so sick of seeing my face!" she yelled at the TV, throwing the remote-control at the screen.

As usual, her crime-fighting exploits were headline news on every station. That afternoon's attempted robbery was being broadcasted with survivors being interviewed. They were all ooh-ing and ahh-ing about how 'awesome' and 'brave' and 'beautiful' (as if that had anything to do with anything) Videl Satan had been while taking on those robbers. It was all Satan-City heroine this, Satan-City heroine that.

It was so sickening.

What about the guard that had died? Why were they not talking about the guard she had failed to protect?

…

Gah! It had taken him hours to surf through all these dating sites, goodness. He never would have guessed that there were so many!

Gohan had finally decided on _Getting-to-know-you dot com_. It looked professional and clean, and the search criteria was organized and easy to use. After going through several profiles, he finally found one that caught his interest. The avatar was bright enough - a fiery phoenix in burning reds and oranges. But...the mystical bird of legend in all its fiery beauty was not what caught his attention. It was more the pen-name associated with it.

It was just the thing that would catch his eye, the user called herself 'Katagirl', and for some reason he chuckled at the name, wondering if its owner could execute even a single kata.

Her profile was nice enough, though like most profiles on this site - it didn't give much away. Just the basics - sex, age, education, interest etc. In any case, he liked her pen-name, so he sent her a request to chat. Her status was set as 'busy', so he doubted that she'd even see it, let alone respond.

Satisfied that he'd made enough effort towards securing himself a date for this fundraiser, he minimized the dating website and connected to the server at his office – he still had a report to put together for Monday.

A few hours later, Gohan was happy with his progress; he was done with his findings, now he just had to make a recommendation and he'd be done. The rest would be up to his boss. It angered him that so much destruction and suffering had come from this kind of negligence – probably to cut costs. He could only hope that the company for those defective hinges would be held accountable when everything was said and done. Nothing would make up for the lost lives, but if the board and the courts were severe in their punishment, other companies would hopefully be more responsible in the future.

For now though, he deserved a little break.

"Mnnn…" He let the aroma of fresh coffee tickle his nose as he placed the steaming cup on his desk. It was late and he was hungry. He was surprised that his parents hadn't come back yet, and the last thing he felt like doing was cooking for himself.

"Huh?" He blinked at the small notice at the bottom corner of his screen. _'Katagirl has accepted your request to chat'_, it read.

"Oh wow," he said, sitting down. "I guess I should say something, but what?"

Suddenly he felt like he was standing in-front of Kirsty all over again. Even though it wasn't exactly face to face, it was still a conversation with a girl. It just made him feel all awkward and nervous. He bit down on his lip and placed his fingers on the keyboard.

"Hi," he typed and stared at the screen as it reflected his commands:

NimbusRider says: Hi.

The dark screen flickered in green text, and he wondered if his greeting was good enough. He held his breath for five seconds and waited for Katagirl to write back.

Katagirl says: Hello.

He released the breath he was holding and let his fingers glide.

NimbusRider says: Thank you for accepting my request to chat. I'm new here, but I'd like to get to know you, if that's okay?

'_Gah!' he immediately berated himself. 'I shouldn't have typed that. I should have said something less…desperate_.'

Katagirl says: That depends…

NimbusRider says: On?

Katagirl says: Well, for starters, are you really new here? Or are you one of those guys that like to give themselves a new pen-name every week so they can lure a girl into chatting with them, and then get all vulgar?

Gohan scratched his head and re-read her post. _Huh? People did that?_

NImbusRider says: I'm never vulgar, and no, I'm not one of those guys. I'm genuinely new, just signed up today.

Gohan sat back in his chair staring at the screen. He figured he must have said something wrong because she did not write back for a long time. Just when he was about to give up and minimise the window, the screen came alive with the written word.

Katagirl says: Looks like you're an honest one. There is no history of accounts associated with your IP. Yeah, just so you know - I've just traced it to a remote location in the 439 district area. How peculiar, I didn't even know there were towns down there.

_Gohan nearly had a heart-attack. What the...Traced...Traced? What the hell? Who IS this girl? She just t-traced me?_

NimbusRider says: Geez! Is everyone on here this suspicious? I can't believe you just traced me!

He genuinely couldn't believe it, even though he had nothing to hide - well sort of. He wrapped his fingers around his steaming mug and took a sip of his coffee while he waited for a response. Surely this wasn't the 'norm'?

Katagirl says: Probably not as suspicious as me, though they should be. It's in my nature to be suspicious I guess, I have my reasons. Besides, I've been on this site for a while now, and I've come across a lot of creeps and weirdo's in the past.

NimbusRider says: Oh. Well, I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. What classifies as 'creep' behaviour by the way?

Katagirl says: Like that needs explaining…

NimbusRider says: Well, I just don't want to find myself saying the wrong thing, that's all. Like I said, I'm new here, and would hate to offend anyone.

The cursor just flickered against her name. She didn't type back a response for a while. Gohan reached for his mug, placing it at the tip of his lips as he took another sip. _Did I say something wrong?_

The cursor began to move again in green text against the black background of the screen.

Katagirl says: Just don't ask me about the colour of my pubes, and we'll get along just fine.

"P-Phhffft!"

Gohan sputtered his coffee, the brown droplets splattering his screen and keyboard. "Crap." He abruptly got up from his chair and opened his drawer to pull out a microfiber cloth. He padded the keyboard first, trying to get as much of the liquid as he could, before he wiped the screen clean. He re-read the last message on the screen just to make sure he wasn't seeing things and sat down in disbelief.

Katagirl says: Hello? Are you still there?

Gohan scratched the back of his head, trying to decide if he wanted to continue chatting to this girl. He couldn't fathom how anyone would throw in pubes into the conversation, just like that.

Katagirl says: Hello?

He bit his mouth and stared, his fingers unmoving.

Katagirl says: *waves* are you still there? Nimbz?

_Nimbz?_ He blinked at the shortened version of his pen-name.

Katagirl says: Are you still there?

Gohan drummed his fingers lightly on his desk and swiftly moved them above the black keys of his keyboard. He started to type something, but quickly deleted it.

Making up his mind, he shifted his hand to the mouse-pad and hurriedly clicked on 'end-chat'. He reclined back in his chair and sighed in relief when the screen reverted back to his profile page.

…

Videl blinked, and stared at the screen, 'NimbusRider is offline', it read.

Humph! He ended the chat, just like that? How rude. "Did I offend him?" she thought out loud, but at this point, she really didn't care.

The memory of the guad's blood seeping into her clothes, his chest rising and falling one last time before his body went still was still haunting her.

Unable to work on her paper, she had called Erasa earlier, her best friend always had interesting if not outrageous stories to tell her, but the blonde was out with her boyfriend tonight. So she'd scoured the web for random people as usual. But none of the guys she had chatted to tonight had been able to hold her attention or at least distract her from that bloody imagine - least of all NimbusRider - the weirdo from the middle of nowhere.

She closed the dating website and checked the time - it wasn't that late, if she pushed herself, she might be able to write a few pages of her thesis.

…

_**That's chapter 1 you guys. Do let the team know if you liked it or not. Would you like to see the story continue? Review and let us know.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**  
_**Brought to you by Gue22**_

...

Monday morning was no fun.

Gohan submitted his report on the Gold City bridge, only to be summoned by his bosses for a gruelling six hours to defend his findings and conclusions. It was annoying and insulting to have them question all his careful calculations. He was always thorough though, always. The thought of his mother's disapproving frown was enough motivation to ensure that he was never sloppy. They kept asking round about questions, unable to process how he could be so sure so quickly, but no matter how they ran the variables in their own programs, they could find nothing to dispute what he already knew as fact.

By the time he flew home in the evening, he was hungry, tired and irritable. Especially because 'Marcy' from Public Relations had dropped him an email as promised, reminding him that she was still waiting on him to give her a name for his 'plus-one'...  
_Stupid Fund-raiser._

He touched down outside his house and let himself in. It was early evening, a cool breeze blew in his hair under a calm orange sky, and the house was already filled with mouth-watering aromas as he let himself in.

His face turned beet-red when he stepped into the kitchen to find his mother laughing hysterically while trying to beat his father with a wooden spoon – Goku had his hand all the way inside her pants.

"Um," flushed Gohan.

"Hey son!" Goku flashed him an enormous grin as he pulled out his hand. "Didn't sense you coming."

"Um...I'll just be in my room," Gohan muttered, highly embarrassed by the scene.

It was becoming more and more apparent that he needed to move out and get his own place. He had looked around Blue City for an apartment before starting his internship, but everything he could afford on his meagre internship salary was much too small and stuffy. It wouldn't have been so bad if he'd been just another kid raised in the city, but Gohan was too used to wide open spaces and greenery. The thought of being confined to a small apartment in a concrete neighbourhood was just depressing. His grandpa had offered to pay his rent for something bigger, with a hope for a small garden, but his mom had forbidden it.

Ultimately he'd given up on living in Blue City, opting to commute instead.

He stepped into his room longing to fling himself on the bed to sleep, but there was no way his stomach was going to allow him to do that. He still had an hour or so to kill before dinner, so he grudgingly sat down on his desk and turned on his computer.

Since his debut on Getting-to-know-you dot com on Saturday night, he had logged in and out throughout Sunday, browsing around and reading people's profiles. He had come across a few that`d caught his eye, but alas, none of those girls had been online. He had sent a few chat requests but he was beginning to think that this whole 'on-line' thing was a complete waste of time and energy.

It took a few minutes for his machine to boot up, but when it finally did, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he actually had four chat requests waiting for him.

"Nice," he smiled eagerly.

He scanned through the names wondering if any of the girls were currently on-line and felt his fingers twitch when he recognized one of them: Katagirl.

_What could she possibly want now?_He frowned, ignoring her request. Instead he initiated a chat with 'BlueRose19'.

Their interaction started off normally enough. Pleasantries, pleasantries...and more pleasantry-like chatter. Their conversation covered the basics of getting to know someone, and just as Gohan was starting to relax...

BlueRose19 says: Sooooooo, I'm getting kinda horny just talking to you. Wanna help me get-off?

Grr! He immediately clicked on the x button at the corner of the chat screen.

_What is wrong with these girls?_

Was there no one normal out there? Someone genuinely looking to 'get-to-know-the-other'? In his search for a suitable dating web-site he had deliberately avoided the ones that looked dodgy - the ones where the girls chose suggestive names like luscious-lips69, not to mention the provocative pictures that looked like bad imitations of master Roshi's magazines. He had settled for this site because it had a nice and clean look. It didn't even allow members to advertise their physical attributes – it had a strict 'no personal photos' policy. Yet he had still managed to land two perverted and vulgar girls with just his first two conversations!

Drumming his fingers on his desk, Gohan contemplated abandoning this avenue. At this rate, he'd be better off crashing Lime's Valentine's day date, physically stealing her, dressing her in a ball-gown and flying her off to Blue City against her will, just to save face at the Fundraiser.

"Heh heh heh..." he chuckled at his own ridiculousness. He could just imagine the kind of verbal lashing he'd receive if he so much as showed up during her date with this so called 'real guy'.

"Wicked sex, pfft..." he muttered, recalling her words from their phone conversation on Friday night. Seems like sex was all anyone ever thought about. His fellow interns at the office, Lime, the girls on-line...hell, even his own parents couldn't seem to keep their hands to themselves.

Pling. Pling. Pling.

The corner of his screen began to flicker. A new request to chat was coming through.

Gohan bit his lip when he saw the pen-name of the requester; he really didn't feel like initiating a conversation with her again, but in the end, with a lack of other prospects he figured…what the hell? Let me see what she wants.

He clicked on 'accept', and the screen went black with the green cursor in motion, already forming words.

Katagirl says: It's rude not to say bye when you leave a conversation.

Fuelled by his already sour mood, Gohan frowned at the text. _Not even a hello or a few pleasantries? This girl has no manners. She really has some nerve! _His foul mood only intensified, raising his irritability levels of the day. His fingers fell rather hard on the keys as he typed, flying faster than any professional typist.

NimbusRider says: Rude? Well, I guess the shock of your choice of words kind of wiped out all the etiquette left in me.

The cursor next to her name just stood blinking in silence for a few seconds, making Gohan scowl even deeper. He felt impatient for her to respond for some reason, and when she didn't, he positioned his fingers readying them to start typing again when...

Katagirl says: Were you really shocked by what I said?

"Of course I was," he muttered out, but shook his head and began typing instead.

NimbusRider says: Yes. It surprised me. For an anti-vulgarity advocate, I certainly didn't expect it.

Katagirl says: I see. Sorry, I guess. I'd had a terrible day, and I guess I must have come across as a bit harsh.

NimbusRider says: Crude or vulgar my mother would say. Not that I disagree.

Katagirl says: Jeesh! I was just being honest about the kind of behaviour I would not tolerate. It was just one word, and it wasn't even directed at you. Sorry you found it so offensive. Talk about uptight!

NimbusRider says: I'm not uptight!

Katagirl says: Oh really? Then why do you sound so clipped?

Gohan gritted his teeth as he moved his eyes up to the beginning of the conversation – he cringed. Okay, so he was being a little 'off' with her. He realized that his irritation from work was definitely carrying over.

He sighed, rubbing his temples. It seemed rather silly to get so worked up about a small comment made by an anonymous person he didn't even know. He needed to take it easy, that is...if he still wanted to keep talking to Ms. I-traced-your-IP, and so called Ms. Paranoia.

NimbusRider says: I'm fine, honest. I guess you _were_just making yourself clear.

Katagirl says: Great then. Glad to hear it XD

Gohan reclined back into his chair wondering what 'XD' was. Now that he was a bit calm, he realized that he'd had an actual conversation with a girl that wasn't Lime without breaking into a nervous sweat! Alright!

Well, if this small exchange of words could be considered as conversation.

He drummed his fingers on his desk as he continued to stare at the screen. He wasn't sure where to go from here. Should he ask her some questions? Maybe he should have prepared a list of questions and topics to chat about, like you know, how one would prepare before a job interview or something.

Out of nowhere, a small tension started to worm its way into his stomach, he honestly didn't know what to say.

Katagirl says: ?

NimbusRider says: Question mark? What's that for?

Katagirl says: It's an opening for…so…what can you tell me? What's up? Etc.

Gohan smacked his forehead. Duh? What else would a question mark stand for? He should have picked up on that. _Great, now she'll think I'm some kind of idiot. I mean, it's not like I really care that much what she thinks of me, she doesn't even know me._

NimbusRider says: Oh. Err…I don't know really. Is it okay if I asked you a few questions about yourself?

Katagirl says: Lol, well, that's why we're here, to get to know each other after all right?

'Lol?' Gohan stared at the three letters? Grr...what was _that_ supposed to be? Short-hand of some kind clearly, but he didn't really have any practice with this kind of thing.

NimbusRider says: Yes it is. Um...what does LOL mean?

Katagirl-says: Huh? You're kidding right? Are you old or something?

NimbusRider says: Old? What do you mean? Is 21 old?

Katagirl says: No, it's not old. Just that, mostly, only the older generation who don't text or chat don't know what LOL means. You know, dinosaurs like my dad. Lol - It means laugh out loud.

NimbusRider says: Oh. I see. Well, I had a bit of a sheltered upbringing, so I never really had the opportunity to text anyone. I got my first cell phone when I started interning recently.

Katagirl says: Say what? Okaaay...that's kinda weird. But we've already established that you live in the middle of nowhere as well. Soo...you wanted to ask some questions? What would you like to know?

Gohan flushed. What _did _he want to know? He had the basics from her profile, but that didn't really say anything about her as a person. The information on her profile was more a list of facts – assuming they were true, he mused. What he really wanted to ask was '_Are you a decent girl? Someone I could take to a work function?' _But he couldn't exactly ask that off the bat now could he?

NimbusRider says: Well just the normal stuff I guess. Your profile says you're a graduate student, what are you studying?

Katagirl says: Forensic Criminalistics

NimbusRider says: Oh wow, really? That's pretty cool. I'm kinda in forensics myself, engineering though.

Katagirl says: Oh? How so? You said you were an intern on your profile right? How does that work exactly? What does a forensics engineer do?

NimbusRider says: Um...well, lets see...How much do you know about engineering?

Katagirl says: Um, not much really. The design of complicated machines and stuff springs to mind.

NimbusRider says: Well, you're pretty warm then. Let's see how I can best explain what I do on a day to day basis...

Gohan drummed his fingers, his eyes fixed on the screen as he contemplated.

NimbusRider says: Right. Got it. Did you happen to catch the news about that bridge in Gold City?

Katagirl says: I did. In fact, I caught more than just the news, I was out there this past Friday.

NimbusRider says: Really? Oh no, are you hurt?

Katagirl says: No, I just went as a volunteer, you know, helping survivors and stuff.

NimbusRider says: Are you a paramedic?

Katagirl says: LOL, no.

NimbusRider says: Oh. It's just that your profile says you're based in Satan City and it's kinda far from Gold City you know. Nice of you to travel all that way to help those people out.

Katagirl: Yes, well they needed the help. Wait a minute. What does the bridge have to do with your job anyway? You didn't have anything to do with the collapse did you?

NimbusRider says: Huh? No of course not. Jeez, you're really suspicious aren't you?

Katagirl says: I am. I pretty much have to be. The world is full of bad people.

NimbusRider says: True. But there's also a lot of good people. You should never lose sight of that.

Katagirl says: LOL. We have a 'Mr. Glass-half-full' I see

Gohan smiled as his fingers glided over the black keys.

NimbusRider says: Well, I'll take that over being 'Ms. Paranoia' any day.

Katagirl says: XD Well I should certainly hope not. I'm counting on you being a 'Mr'. Things would get really awkward if we met and you turned out to be a 'Ms.'

Grinning, Gohan re-read the sentence over. Well she definitely didn't have to worry about him not being a 'he'. But then he processed the full sentence and gulped. Did she just say m-meet?

NimbusRider says: Meet?

Katagirl says: Just a hypothetical.

NimbusRider says: Oh.

Katagirl says: Lol. What's that face I see?

NimbusRider says: Huh? Face? What face?

Katagirl says: That 'oh' sounded like it came with a face.

NimbusRider says: Oh. Well, I was just wondering about something.

Katagirl says: ?

NimbusRider says: Well, I hope this is not too forward or anything, but...have you ever met anyone you met on-line? I mean, you know, like in real life? Like a sort of a date?

His cheeks burned as he sat staring at the flicker of her cursor, waiting for a response.

Katagirl says: Yeah sure, a few guys.

'Wow', the word's formed on Gohan's mouth. He was actually surprised he realized.

NimbusRider says: Really?

Katagirl says: Well, yeah. The idea is to meet people isn't it?

Gohan smiled. Yep, it sure was.

He felt slightly relieved, knowing that she wouldn't think he was some kind of weirdo when he finally gathered the courage to ask her. His eyes immediately widened at that last carefree thought. _Whoa! When did I conclude that I was going to ask her?_ Grateful for the anonymity of their interaction, Gohan blushed in peace as he typed.

NimbusRider says: Yes, that's the idea.

He smiled.

Katagirl says: So, about the bridge then, you were explaining what a forensics engineer does?

NimbusRider says: Oh yeah, like I was saying...

* * *

Tuesday morning was a drag.

Videl downed three espressos on her way to the court-room hoping the caffeine would keep her up long enough to give her testimony. She had deliberately taken one of her father's chauffers so she could have time to place two slices of cucumber on her eyes, hoping they would do the trick and ameliorate her tired puffy look.

The thing was, by the time her chat with NimbusRider ended last night, the sun was already peeking through her curtains. Gosh, when was the last time she'd had a conversation that outlasted her longest chat record with Erasa? Never, that's when.

If it wasn't for NimbusRider panicking because it was time for him to 'get-up', wash-up and bolt for work, she wouldn't have noticed the lateness or earliness of the hour.

It was just her luck too, that today was Tuesday and she absolutely couldn't sleep in. She had a dreaded date with a judge. She loved her volunteer work with the police, she really did, and she wouldn't change it for the world... but there were times when she loved it less, on days like today when she had to go to court to testify against the criminals she'd arrested. She could only hope that things wouldn't drag on like they normally did, and that it wouldn't take too long before she was called in to give her testimony.

Pushing her way through the swing doors of the large court house, Videl took a quick detour to the woman's bathroom to splash some cold water on her face.

"You look terrible Videl," she told the girl in the mirror. "You should know better than to spend the whole night talking to strange mountain boys."

She dabbed her face dry and attempted to rejuvenate her look with some make-up. "Urgh! Useless, I'm no Erasa, I don't even know what I'm doing." She clamped the concealer shut and settled for a light coat of lipstick. A quick run of the brush through her dark hair and she bolted out the door.

* * *

"Son," she called again, the scowl on her face intensifying.

"Ahem, Son," she cleared her throat, raising her voice by another notch, but the intern didn't stir.

"Wake Up!" she smacked him across the head this time, her voice loud enough to be heard in the other cubicles.

"Wha..." Gohan disorietedly lifted his head off his desk, using the back of his hand to wipe the drool that was dribbling in the corner of his mouth. "Kirsty...wha...what are you doing here?" he yawned and rubbed his eyes.

Kirsty gritted her teeth,"Do I look like your mother?"

"Wha?" Gohan blinked at the ice in her voice.

"Don't look at me with those cute sleepy eyes, like you're expecting a bottle of warm milk, this is not day-care Son. Have a little dignity."

"Sorry, I just-" he began to say, but Kirsty just cut him off.

"I just got back from lunch, is there any reason why you haven't emailed my technical report yet?" She glared, "Oh, I forgot," she said dryly. "You've obviously had a hectic morning – napping."

"Um..." Gohan cringed. Oh man, Kirsty looked pretty mad. Was it really after lunch already? He must have snoozed away the whole morning on his desk. "Um..." he blushed when their eyes made contact, she was just so pretty when she was angry. It was still so embarrassing how she'd shot down his attempts to ask her out. "Report?" he asked lamely.

"I sent you an email at nine."

"Um, let me..." he straightened up, swivelled his chair and began typing in his password. "I...uh..."

"Save it," she cut him off. "I have to head out for an inspection right now. This is not day-care Son, if you want to nap during the day, I'd suggest you change professions. Have that report sent by the time I'm back."

Gohan watched her walk away until she disappeared out of view.

"Oh man Kata, can't believe you kept me up all night," he grinned just before he reached for a sachet of instant coffee.

* * *

Videl woke up to find that she had passed out on her bed in the same clothes she'd worn out to court that morning. She yawned and checked the time. Whoa! It was dinner time, she'd obviously slept the rest of the day away. Just to remind her of how much she had been neglecting it, her stomach growled in protest.

"Fine, I'll feed you," she slid off the bed. Formal clothes always made her feel old and less athletic, so she opted for a quick shower and slipped into some comfy pyjamas. She was about to head out to the kitchen when her laptop caught her eye. She bit her lip and flipped the cover. It couldn't hurt to check who was on-line first though right? It's not as if she was deliberately checking to see if Nimbz was on.

Lying on her bed, she logged into Getting-to-know-you dot com, only to sigh in disappointment.

'_NimbusRider is offline.'_

"Right, let's get something to eat."

* * *

With the exception of a warm glow from his parents' bedroom, the lights in the rest of the house were already switched off by the time he came home. No surprise there, it was close to midnight, Goten and his parents would have gone to sleep a while back.

He slipped into the kitchen and pulled out a huge roasted bird from the oven – thank Kami for his mom. Tiredly, he rubbed his eyes, shrugging out of his tie. He settled down to eat in the dark, but quickly changed his mind. How long had he been cooped up in a cubicle? Too damn long.

With the bird under his arm, Gohan shrugged out of his clothes and settled on the roof in his boxers. Ah, it felt good to be outside. It was a clear night, not many stars out, but the air...the smell...it was just what he needed to unwind. Comfortable in the knowledge that his mom wouldn't catch him, he abandoned all etiquette and attacked the roast like a wild animal. After sucking down the bones to the last drop of marrow, Gohan levitated into the air and began working his stiff and tired body into a few stretches. Stretches turned to kicks, and before he knew it, he was going through numerous sets of well practiced kata's.

_Kata's..._

He shook his head and grinned.

Half an hour later, he was showered and ready for bed. He had a long day tomorrow, and he needed his rest. That didn't explain why he was sitting up in bed, logging into Getting-to-know-you dot com instead of sleeping.

Seeing that she was on, his stomach immediately tensed up. He had really enjoyed chatting with her the night before, but...he didn't want to be presumptuous. She was more experienced with this online thing. She probably had lots of acquaintances that she interacted with. Last night, talking to him all night like that...what if it was something she did regularly?

He definitely didn't want to jump to any conclusions just because of one conversation.

Gohan dropped his shoulders, his enthusiasm from seeing her name before dwindling. What if she was on with some other guy, chatting, laughing, and oblivious to his presence? His inbox was empty, if she'd wanted to contact him again, surely she would have sent him a message while he was off-line just to say 'hello'. He certainly would have, had he been the one to log on first.

Blip...

Katagirl says: Shouldn't you be sleeping?

Relief washed over him like a cloud of mist._ She noticed me._ Gohan smiled, shifting his laptop to make typing a little more comfortable.

NimbusRider says: Maybe. Shouldn't you?

Katagirl says: Nuh, I'm not tired. I had an early morning appointment, but after that...I slept most of the day away.

NimbusRider says: Not fair, I was caught sleeping on my desk at work today.

Katagirl says: Slacker :p

Gohan chuckled, the vibrations of his laughter shifting his laptop slightly off his lap. He tilted his thighs to support it and punched hard on the keys.

NimbusRider says: Hey! We don't all have the luxury to sleep all day you know.

Katagirl says: True. Envy me :D

NimbusRider says: Lol, I do. So since you can't sleep, what are you up to?

The question was innocent enough, but Gohan really wanted to know if she was on-line like this, chatting with a hoard of other hopefuls, a hoard of faceless, interesting guys. It's not that he was feeling jealous or territorial, it was just that...he was already thinking of asking her to be his 'plus one' so...

Katagirl says: I tried to work on my thesis but I got bored so...I watched a few episodes from my Phoenix collection.

NimbusRider says: Phoenix? Isn't that the picture on your profile? It's supposed to be a mythical bird right? Must be an interesting documentary you're watching.

Katagirl says: Documentary? Uh...no. Don't you know what Phoenix is? It's only the best comic book adaptation series ever made :D

NimbusRider says: Comic? No...can't say I've ever heard of it. The best ever made you say? Aha, it's not that you're biased or anything...

Katagirl says: I'm not. It's a simple fact.

NimbusRider says: You mean opinion.

Katagirl says: No, I mean fact. Phoenix is the most awesome fictional superhero ever created. He's my kind of guy.

NimbusRider says: Lol, if you say so.

Katagirl says: Fine, don't take my word for it. What's your favourite show then?

Gohan thought of pulling a random name out of his hat in order to appear 'normal'. Normal twenty-one year olds were familiar with TV right? He sighed. When you had as many secrets like he did, it was best to be honest were you could. Keeping track of lies was exhausting.

NimbusRider says: Don't really have a favourite show, I wasn't allowed to watch TV when I was a kid, so I never really got into it.

Katagirl says: Okay...so we've established that you live in the middle of nowhere, that you didn't own a phone while growing up, and now...no TV too? Tell me, what century are you from? Be honest, I won't judge you if you're a 14th century vampire you know :D

Gohan stopped to stare at the text. Though he was laughing, he couldn't help the small linger of truth in her playful deduction. Sure, he was no vampire, but he was definitely not human either...hmm...

NimbusRider says: Lol, you say you wouldn't judge but...

Katagirl says: But what?

For a split second Gohan felt slightly uneasy, but quickly brushed it aside. His own identity had absolutely nothing to do with the mythical creatures of the night.

NimbusRider says: You say you wouldn't judge but...if I showed you my fangs, you'd probably run in the opposite direction, screaming for your favourite superhero Phoenix to come and rescue you.

Katagirl says: Lol, Doubt it. I have nothing against fangs. If you tried to bite me though, I'd just kick your ass. Problem solved.

NimbusRider says: Oh? What about the Mr 'most awesome superhero ever created? Surely he'd come to your rescue.

Katagirl says: Sure, but I don't need Phoenix to fight my battles. Vampire or not, I'd knock you unconscious with one well placed kick :D

Gohan scratched his head as he stared, smiling at what she'd just written. Of course it was impossible that she'd be able to land the kick, let alone knock him out. But he was impressed by the confidence.

But what really got his attention was a sudden thought. Was that just a figure of speech or did she really know how to fight?

NimbusRider says: Hmm...so the 'kata' in the name is not just random? Are you into martial arts or something?

Katagirl says: Guilty. You could say that's where my true passion lies.

NimbusRider says: Whoa! Are you serious? I practice a little myself.

Seconds passed without any response. Hmmm...Gohan stared at the screen. _What? What did I say?_ He wondered, when the cursor just flicked next to her name without any word. He counted the seconds, one up to eight, and she still didn't write back.

NimbusRider says: ?

He shifted in his bed and considered getting up to open a window. It wasn't hot or anything, but the fresh air would definitely help keep him awake. When the conversation and his fingers were flowing, he didn't really feel the sleepiness, but in the eight or so seconds that she wasn't talking to him, he felt dread – that he might have said something wrong; but most of all, he felt really, really sleepy.

In the ensuing silence, he placed his laptop on the bed and quickly dashed to open a window. A cool breeze blew into his face before he turned around and sat back in bed.

NimbusRider says: Kata?

Katagirl says: Martial arts huh? Let me guess, you're a student or member of one of the Satan Dojo's?

Gohan cringed. That would be the day. He knew it was the popular thing, in fact for most of his life he had been oblivious to the whole fiasco about the world champ and Cell. But as soon as he'd started interning, he'd realized that the whole world worshipped Hercule, heck most of the guys in his office wanted to _be_ Hercule. And most of the women...well, they wanted to _be with_ Hercule. It was insane!

He could only deduce that Kata, being a fan of martial arts, also had a crush on the fake and hairy world saviour. How depressing.

NimbusRider says: Um...no. I don't affiliate with any Satan Dojo. I know he's a hero and all, but to be honest, I'm not really into his style.

Katagirl says: Oh?

NimbusRider says: I just find him loud and silly. No offense if you're a fan. I know he's the people's hero.

Katagirl says: He's not _your_ hero then? He did save the world you know.

NimbusRider says: Sure, and that's great. I'm still not a fan though. I practice the old school styles. That's what I'm most comfortable with.

Katagirl says: Well you're certainly the first person I've ever met or interacted with that doesn't worship Mr Satan.

NimbusRider says: Sorry if it's disappointing, I'm just being honest.

Katagirl says: Meh, don't apologise - it's kinda refreshing. Sooo...if Phoenix is not your hero, lol, aaaaand the world champ is not your hero. Is there anyone you admire at all?

NimbusRider says: Absolutely

Katagirl says: ?

NimbusRider says: I think Son Goku is the greatest hero that ever lived. One on one, Phoenix vs Son Goku is a no brainer :p

Katagirl says: Hey! Don't bash my Phoenix! You don't even know what he's capable of!

NimbusRider says: Lol. Nuh, it's only because you don't know what Son Goku is really capable of either. He'd win with his hands tied behind his back.

Katagirl says: Pshh! Grab a Phoenix comic book first, _then_ come and tell me about Son Goku. You know, I've watched all the old tapes of his tournaments, he was pretty awesome. Never seen a little kid that fearless.

NimbusRider says: X-D

Katagirl says: X-D

NimbusRider says: I have a good mind to sneak into my brother's room and go through his comic book collection. You've made me curious about this Phoenix guy.

Katagirl says: Do it!

NimbusRider says: Okay give me a minute.

Katagirl says: Noooo! Don't! I was just kidding.

NimbusRider says: Heh heh...so was I. I'm too lazy to sneak around right now.

Katagirl says: Good. Now tell me about this morning when you got caught sleeping on the job. Did you get into trouble?

NimbusRider says: Well, actually, what happened was...

And so another night filled with the sound of clicking keystrokes continued.

* * *

_**That's the chapter. What do you guys think of the story so far? **_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Brought to you by Gue22**

* * *

Wednesday morning was painful.

Gohan sat behind his desk and rubbed his eyes. He'd done it again, stayed up all night talking to Kata, and he was rightfully paying for it. He was operating on less than 4 hours sleep in 48 hrs. Well, at least he'd had the foresight to stop at a coffee shop this morning. He had to stay awake no matter what.

Scanning through his inbox, he cringed when he saw a reminder about the fundraiser. All that talking with Kata, and he'd still not even broached the subject. The fourteenth was creeping up real fast, the best strategy would be to ask her right away, then make a Plan B if she said no.

_Plan B?_ He dropped his forehead on his desk in discouragement. Who was he trying to kid? He knew he had no Plan B. Lime had been his Plan A and this internet thing was now the Plan B. If Kata said no then...

He sighed. Maybe he should be making more of an effort to talk to other girls on the dating site. Or better yet, maybe he should be making more of an effort to go to lunch with the other interns and see if he could ask one of the girls to go with him. Perhaps approaching Kirsty who was more senior had been his first mistake. Still, he really admired her, she was so smart, so thorough, and those thick lashes under her glasses, if only he-

"Napping again?"

"Wha...no!" He jerked his head up from the desk at the sound of the familiar voice.

Think of the devil and she'll surely appear too huh, for there stood Kirsty, towering over his desk. She looked immaculate in her two piece suit. The pale chiffon blouse under her jacket showing off just a hint of the colour of her bra. Her hair was tied into an extra tight bun today and though he was pretty sure it was only his imagination, he also felt like her glasses were extra clear too. He could see right to the very core of her beautiful disapproving eyes.

"I wasn't sleeping, honest!" He flayed his arms and tried to sit up straight in his chair.

"So you say," she dumped a brown folder on his desk. "Well done on the report yesterday, this dull museum case is finally solved. The higher ups will be calling you in to make a big fuss about your conclusions, but I've already checked them over. Everything seems in order."

"Um...thanks?" He didn't really know what to say. She was praising him, yet she had that displeased look on her face. He just didn't get it. He smiled happily, letting the warmth of the praise wash over him when-

"If you need back-up in there, let me know." She turned to leave. "And Son, next time," she looked him straight in the eye, "don't waste my time by submitting late, or I'll have your balls."

_Eey? _Gohan just gaped at her.

And with that, the beautiful Kirsty was gone.

The sleepy intern reclined back against his chair and sighed. He was happy to be left alone with only the dark circles under his eyes as company.

He logged into his Comet – their private case management system, and scrolled down his list. The Museum case in West City was now closed; he made a note to prepare for a potential briefing though. The Golden bridge in Gold City was also closed, next up was a mini shopping centre that was slowly sinking. He sent a quick email to Records to request hard copies of all the geotechnical reports, rolled up his sleeves and cranked the muscles in his neck.

It was time to get to work.

* * *

Like a zombie, Videl rolled off her bed and stumbled to the bathroom. _Stupid bladder!_ Did it have to wake her up now?

After flushing the toilet and washing her hands, she stumbled back into her bedroom and cringed at the assault on her eyes.

Urgh! There was way too much light!

The curtains were closed but they were hardly effective in keeping out the light. It was broad daylight and the sun was making its presence known. Irritated, she slipped into a pair of slippers and grabbed her pillow.

Just before she headed out the door, a familiar sound started to hum somewhere around the mess that were her tousled bed covers. Meh...she wasn't about to pick-up. Whoever it was would just have to wait.

Today was truly a free day, no police work commitments, no lectures to attend and no social engagements whatsoever. She was truly free to do whatever she wanted with her day - sleep for at least six hours.

The walk to the left wing of the mansion was not long, but all the cheerful housekeeping staff that tried to engage her in greetings as she made her way were enough to make the walk feel like an eternity.

She merely grunted in response, until she reached her haven. Most of the rooms on this side of the house had shutters. Personally she preferred the free and light flow of curtains, but...not today. Drawing on the strings, she made sure to shut out every last bit of sunshine before throwing herself on the bed and catching some much needed sleep.

It was early evening when her eyes flittered open, she was starving but at least she felt well rested. The grumpiness she'd felt earlier in the day had withered some, so she gathered her pillow and made her way to her own bedroom.

* * *

The house was quiet when he stepped in. Tiredly, Gohan loosened his tie, hung his jacket and dropped his keys in a straw basket on the table.

"You're home early," Chichi smiled from where she sat, curled up on the couch with a book.

"Yeah, I took off at four o'clock sharp." Gohan yawned just before he placed a kiss on his mother's head. He unfastened the first three buttons of his shirt and plopped down on a couch next to her.

"Everything okay? You look exhausted." She eyed him quizzically, her eyes roaming over his worn and tired face.

"Everything's fine. Just tired, work's been keeping me up late these last few days." He lied. "Things should slow down from now on though." He rubbed his eyes and allowed his head to hang back, his neck resting on the padded crest of the couch.

"Goten and dad?"

Chichi shrugged, "Who knows, they took off as soon as your brother came back from school. You know those two; they're probably doing something reckless."

Gohan chuckled, "Yeah, most probably. I need to borrow something from his room. I hope he doesn't mind." He yawned yet again.

"Something like what?" Chichi eyed him curiously.

Gohan shrugged, "Just something light to read." He said, as she stood, heading in the direction of the bedrooms.

"I doubt you'll find anything stimulating in your brother's room." Chichi frowned.

"Just useless car magazines and comic books. I have some romance self-help books that you might find interesting though." She eyed him meaningfully.

Gohan chuckled nervously; even his own mother had no faith in his wooing skills, great. But he was in no mood to sit around and take a grilling about his lack of feminine company. "I'm sure I'll find something mom. Gonna take a small nap now."

"Okay," Chichi sighed, defeated. "Do you want me to wake you up for dinner? Or should I leave some food out for you?"

"Um...wake me up please!" He called out just before he dashed into Goten's room.

_We used to be so close squirt_, he lamented. _Don't know how the gap grew so big in only a few years_, he sighed as he combed through a pile of comics stacked in a pile at the corner of Goten's floor. _I guess I should have known that things were changing when you insisted on having your own room._

"Ah, there we go!" He grinned as he found what he was looking for. The bright colors on the cover had practically jumped out at him. The background was a fiery culmination of deep reds, yellows and oranges – just like Kata's profile picture. "So this is the infamous Phoenix," he chuckled, slipping out and into his own bedroom.

"Let's see what it is that makes you so special."

* * *

A mug of steaming hot chocolate, a bag of marshmallows and a notebook sat on Videl's desk. She'd been scribbling a few ideas for her research paper for the last hour or so, while keeping an eye on her monitor.

As soon as she spied him logging on, she tossed the notebook and began typing.

Katagirl says: I had a dream about you. It's about time you showed up.

She held her breath as she waited for him to respond. Would he find it weird that she'd had a dream about him? Certainly she did. She'd never had a dream about any of the guys she'd chatted to online before. Especially such a weird dream, still...even if it was a bit embarrassing to admit that she'd dreamt about a complete stranger, she still wanted to tell him all about it.

Thankfully it didn't take him but a second to respond.

NimbusRider says: Hey Kata. Um...what kind of dream?

Videl grinned at the screen just before she popped a marshmallow into her mouth. A few strands of dark hair fell forward as she leaned in to type.

Katagirl says: Don't kill my fun. Take a guess.

NimbusRider says: I really have no idea. How can you dream about a face you don't even know though?

_True_, Videl thought. I _shouldn't even be dreaming about you at all_. But their conversations were the last bouts of data swimming in her head before she fell asleep so it was probably just her brain's way of processing and storing all of it away.

Yeah, that's all it is, she decided.

Katagirl says: Of course I know your face. I've seen Dracula many times in books and movies :p

NimbusRider says: Hey! Take that back. I told you, I'm not a vampire, lol!

Katagirl says: Hahah! Liar. You even confessed that you had fangs, remember?

NimbusRider says: *sigh* I guess you found me out. So you dreamt about vampires? I hope it wasn't a nightmare.

Videl chuckled to herself as she popped another marshmallow. Her dream had been anything but a nightmare. She pushed the dangling locks of hair aside and pressed lightly on the keys.

Katagirl says: Nuh. I dreamt about snowboarding.

NimbusRider says: Snowboarding?

Katagirl says: Well, more like snow-clouding.

NimbusRider says: ?

Videl grinned at the question mark, as she thought of a way to explain the details of her dream. She shifted slightly in her chair and decided that she needed to get a bit more comfortable. She moved her laptop to her bed and came back for the hot-chocolate.

Lying on her stomach, her screen just about level with her face, she bit her lip as she resumed her typing.

Katagirl says: Instead of a regular snowboard, we had this dark cloud, a real fluffy wet cloud and we were boarding on it; just gliding down the snow on it like a real snowboard!

NimbusRider says: Um...

Katagirl says: I know! Weird right? A person should fall right through a cloud since it's just droplets of water, but we were practically skiing on one. I guess your pen-name kinda implanted the idea in my subconscious, lol.

NimbusRider says: Yeah, I guess so. Uh...what did I look like?

_Huh?_ Videl stared at the text? _What did he look like?_

She reflected back to her dream and realized that he'd still been as faceless then as he was right now.

Katagirl says: I'm talking about riding clouds and you're worried about your looks? Vain boy XD. I don't know. I didn't see your face. It was pretty cold out there and we were in full gear. Snow boots and gloves, fleece baklavas and snow goggles - kinda hard to see the face, lol.

NimbusRider says: Oh yeah! That makes perfect sense I guess.

Katagirl says: XD The convenience of dreams.

NimbusRider says: Yeah, dreams usually have a way of making sense of the nonsensical. By the way, I'm supposed to be taking a small nap, lol. But I wanted to log in and tell you that I finally snuck into my brother's room. I'm looking at our friend Phoenix right now.

Katagirl says: Really? That's Great. Have you read it yet?

NimbusRider says: I have. I read the entire volume. Great art, very interesting story-line. I have to say, your Phoenix is not juggling all those identities very well though.

Katagirl says: He's doing the best he can. You have no idea how hard it can be, trying to live a normal life, whilst trying to hide who really are at the same time.

NimbusRider says: Err...maybe you're right. Still he's such a grumpy guy so far, he needs to relax more XD.

Katagirl says: You should read the next volume, his character really develops. Plus you'll get to see his inferno-breath attack. It's my favourite XD

NimbusRider says: Lol, maybe. But for now I gotta go. My mom is calling me for dinner.

Katagirl says: Oh okay. Enjoy your food.

Grr...this was crazy! Why did she feel so put out because he was leaving their chat to go and eat? He was just a faceless stranger that she hardly knew. In these last few days since talking to him, she hadn't even thought of interacting with the other guys on her friend's list. This had never happened before; she was usually on with three or four guys at a time. It was silly to place all her eggs in his basket like this.

_Hmm_, she drummed her fingers. _I should rectify this right away. _She turned her eyes to the edge of her screen to see who else was on.

Blip...

NimbusRider says: I'll just eat up and be back real quick. Don't disappear. Um...I'd like to ask you something.

She'd just been about to accept a chat request from MagneticSilver when that message came through. Her mood suddenly lifted, and she immediately abandoned that course of action.

_I wonder what he wants to ask me?_

Katagirl says: Sure, I'll be here.

* * *

Thursday morning was the worst one yet.

The cold shower hadn't helped, and the coffee wasn't working either.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ he berated himself. The whole point of going home early yesterday was so he could sleep, but instead, he'd read comic books and talked to Kata.

He didn't even know this girl, not really. But look at him; he was already being influenced by her, reading comics, staying up all night, he'd even gone out of his way to pass by PitchCoffee this morning because she'd said the franchise made the best cinna-rolls.

And the worst thing was – he still hadn't asked her yet.

"I should just ask her and get it over and done with." He mumbled to himself. "I should just leave a message in her inbox right now and ask her."

"Hey Son," a stern voice yanked him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, yes sir?" He found himself staring into the face of his boss. Oh-Oh, this was the big boss, what was he doing down here in the cubicles?

"The faulty hinges you implicated in your Golden bridge report?"

"Um...yes?"

"Its war," said his boss. "The manufacturer is suing us for slander. They pulled together a team of experts to contest our findings. The media is already all over this – whole damn thing's turning into a circus. If those fuckers get their way, not only will they get away with murder, but our credibility will go down the shit pipes." said the middle-aged executive, his face anything but amused. "Reservations have been made for us with Blue Airlines, the plane leaves in two hours. It's not even enough time to go home and pack. Grab what you can from here, the rest we'll just have to buy when we get there. We're going to Gold City."

The nervous and sleepy look on Gohan's face evaporated immediately.

Those hinge guys...They were contesting his findings? On what grounds?

How he hated people like this. It was bad enough that innocent people had lost their property, some severely injured, while others lost their lives due to their negligence, and now...and now instead of taking responsibility like a man and learning from this tragedy by striving to better their quality control, they were contesting his findings?

His usually cheery and innocent face hardened as he pulled out his files. "Let's go."

* * *

It was Friday night in Satan City. Hercule Avenue was bustling with life. Cars struggled to find parking, street lights burned hot and bright, falling on the exquisite patrons dressed in overpriced designer wear.

Two girls – one in bronze and one in gold - slipped out of a taxi and clanked their shimmering pencil heels on the pavement.

The line outside Reserves was extra long tonight, but the girls walked right up to the front and flashed the oversized bouncer a smile. Heads turned, murmurs broke out, and those lucky enough to have been cueing with their cell-phones in hand took the opportunity to take a few snapshots of the duo – mainly the dark-haired girl – the City's heroine looking rather exquisite in a bronze dress.

'Welcome Ms Satan,' the bouncer smiled and promptly stepped aside to let the duo in.

The VIP lounge was thankfully empty as they entered. The bass from downstairs was still ringing in their ears but it was quiet enough to talk. A waiter took their order for drinks and slipped out – leaving the best friends in privacy.

"You're no fun Ms V for Very-Stiff, if we stay up here all night, we'll never meet anyone." pouted Erasa.

"So now I'm being stiff?" Videl shook her head. "Need I remind you that you have a boyfriend, just what do you mean by 'meet someone'? Plus, I thought you said this was an overdue girl's night out?" she quirked, slipping her feet out of her 6 inch champagne heels.

"It is overdue. I hardly see you these days, and I have some news." Erasa grinned.

Videl stiffened, instincts going on immediate alert. "Erasa...if you brought me out here to set me up with another lame guy, I'll never forgive you." she glared.

Erasa laughed out loud. "My, conceited much?" she laughed. "Who said my news was about you?"

"Your track record," retorted Videl, unconvinced.

"Yes well, this time I really do have some news, about _**me**_ this time Ms V for Vanity. Sorry to burst your bubble."

Videl rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll bite," she said, reclining into the sofa. She placed her legs lengthwise on the sofa with her feet nuzzling into the soft cushioning. Ah, it felt so good to move her toes around. Those bloody six inch heels had damn near killed her in the short distance from the car to here. She didn't know how Erasa managed with hers on a daily basis. "So, what's the news?"

Grinning, Erasa pulled out her phone and made a few clicks. "Tada!" she handed it over to Videl with an expectant grin on her face.

Wearily, Videl roamed her eyes over the text on the screen for a few seconds then promptly squealed. "Erasa! You're getting published!" She flung her arms around her friend in a bone crushing hug. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Heh heh heh," Erasa giggled. "I knew you would be," she smiled.

"But Erasa, this message is two days old. Why didn't you call me the minute you received the news? We could have gone out to celebrate!"

"Humph!" Erasa folded her arms with a scowl. "I did call you. You didn't pick up. I even tried the land-line in your house, several times actually, but they kept telling me that you were sleeping? All day?" She raised her brows.

"Oh yeah," Videl flushed. She _had_ slept all day that day. "Yeah, I had a stomach ache, so I slept a lot." She lied.

"Well I'm glad it was nothing serious. If it wasn't for the fact that you didn't show up for that jewellery store robbery that day, I would have concluded that you were just ignoring me. I figured there was something important going on, if Ms V for Vigilante didn't show up to bust some balls," she grinned.

"Heh heh he," Videl laughed uncomfortably. "Nothing too important, just a stomach ache. And don't call me that either, I'm not a vigilante. I have an actual license to do what I do, you know."

"Uh-uh," said Erasa, but then her eye caught something and her entire face was transformed. "Ooh! Here comes the cute waiter with our bottle of bubbly!" she beamed.

As soon as her friend turned flirty eyes at the waiter, Videl pulled out her phone to check if she had any messages. For the hundredth time that day, she sighed in disappointment.

When Nimbz hadn't show up to chat last night, she'd found herself more than just a little angry. It had taken a good night's rest, a full day of hectic crime fighting and plans with Erasa to make her realize that she was actually being ridiculous. She had no reason to be mad, it's not as if they'd set a specific time to get together for a chat or anything. The guy had no obligation to check in with her, and her him. He could disappear off the interwebs entirely without any warning and she'd still have no right to hold a grudge.

Still, before she'd left her house for her night-out with Erasa, she'd been helpless to fight the impulse to download the getting-to-know-you dot com phone application. This way, if he came on-line while she was out, she would at least know about it.

Sadly, his name still appeared as 'off-line'.

The waiter had already popped the bottle, earning himself a squeal from the delighted Erasa. He poured her a glass and then one for Videl before putting the bottle back on ice. "Here you go Ms Satan," he passed hers over.

Videl slipped her phone back into her clutch purse, before accepting her drink. "Thank-you." she said, and with a shy smile, the waiter left the two girls alone to enjoy their drinks.

Holding the long stem of the tulip shaped glass, Videl proposed a toast. "To you Erasa, may you shock and appal the world with your stories as much as you have me," she grinned.

"Absolutely!" Erasa cheered, and the two girls clanked the bodies of their glasses together.

Videl wasn't one for the bottle, her intense physical regime had no place for an alcohol totalled blood-stream. But since her 18th birthday three years ago, she wasn't opposed to having a glass of fine wine with her meal; or a few colourful cocktails on a night out – which was seldom. She did find something satisfying in a nice of bottle of champagne though. To celebrate Erasa's big news, she'd ordered a Bollinger made from the finest pinot noir grapes to commemorate the occasion. It wasn't exactly a Dom Perignon or a Shipwrecked Heisdieck, the likes of the ones adorning her father's private collection, but ranking 10th in the world, it was still quite a treat.

Tilting her glass, she sipped at her drink, relishing the cold dance of bubbles against her tongue.

"I have some other news," Erasa grinned rather mischievously, eyes sparkling in sync with their drinks, "I finally popped my boyfriend's man cherry last night!"

"Pfffttt!" Videl sputtered, breaking into a fit of coughs.

* * *

"Good-work today Son," Gohan and his boss shook hands in the lobby. The older man was aglow with the honey of victory. "I thought this mess would drag on to next week, but you sure put those so called third rate experts in their place ey?" He nudged a flustered Gohan.

"Err..." Gohan scratched his head, all he did was present the facts and dispute their carefully orchestrated nonsense.

"Tell you what Son, what say you and me hit Golden Casino ey? It's on me."

Another nudge.

"Eh..." Gohan cringed. It had been a long and gruelling two days in Gold City. The last thing he felt like doing was going out with his boss to a casino. He just wanted to fly himself home, eat his mother's cooking, crawl into bed and...well...chat with Kata.

"It's only ten," his boss was saying, "we can get a table at Golden House – on the company of course," he chuckled, "have a great celebratory dinner and then hit the card tables. What do you say Son?"

"Sounds great Sir, but...I...err...have some other cases that I wanted to look through this weekend. I received the geos for that case with the sinking mall? I brought them with me. A big night out might slow me down tomorrow." He scratched his head.

"Good man, good man!" his boss patted him on the back enthusiastically. "Hiring you was the best decision I made this decade Son. Good man," he patted him some more. "You go on ahead and get some rest so you can solve that dilemma. Just err don't expect me for breakfast tomorrow," he chuckled again, "how about a round of golf after lunch ey?"

Gohan cringed. His plan was to check out of the hotel and leave Gold City, not stick around long enough to sleep here, let alone play golf tomorrow. He hated Golf. It was a dull and lazy passed time, it didn't even count as sport in his opinion, being carted around all day, with other people carrying your clubs...what was the point? He sighed; there was no way to explain to his boss that he was planning on checking out and flying home in the middle of the night without a plane ticket. "Golf sounds like fun; I'll see you tomorrow at lunch." He relented.

The elevator ride to his floor was short and sweet. Gohan swiped his card and let himself into his room.

He kicked off his shoes, tossed his jacket and stripped out of the rest of his clothes. The pants had been a tighter fit than he would have liked, but having no luggage, they'd been short for options, so they'd bought what was available in the small boutique of the hotel's lobby. He couldn't believe the price tag on this suit – good thing it'd been on the company. He was happy to note that the hotel's cleaning service had left his own clothes, the ones he'd been wearing yesterday when they arrived, hanging on his door.

He ordered a mountain of room-service – also on the company, before taking his shower. By the time he came out from the steam engulfed bathroom, he felt like a completely different person. He was refreshed and energetic. The only good thing about this impromptu trip to Gold City was that he'd actually slept for six hours last night.

It didn't take him long to plough through the food. With the victory against the hinges guys still fresh, the excitement and confidence from earlier in the day was still burning strong. He was definitely going to ask Kata to be his plus-one tonight.

Heart-rate slightly elevated in anticipation, he climbed into bed and logged into Getting-to-know-you dot com.

It took a second for his energy and good mood to plummet – Katagirl was not on-line.

_So much for asking her_, he sulked, not knowing what to do with himself now. It was Friday night and he wasn't tired in the least, he needed an activity.

He was about to shut down and head out to find Piccolo when he noticed it. _What's this weird looking rectangle next to her name mean?_

Slowly he ran his pointer over it. 'Available on mobile' it read, and his fingers were suddenly flying faster than his thought process.

NimbusRider says: Kata? Are you on?

A full five minutes passed without any response. His hopes sank fast and deep, it was silly to have thought that she was there.

He gave it another five minutes before he finally gave up. It was no fun staring at the unmoving black screen.

"I should have asked her, the fundraiser is next Saturday. I should have asked her." he muttered under his breath, getting ready to log out - Piccolo would at least offer him a good workout.

Blip...

Green life spread itself across the black screen in the form of beautiful text.

Katagirl says: Still there? I'm on my phone.

His heart made a jolt as his face broke into a smile.

NimbusRider says: Hi Kata. Is this a bad time then?

He held his breath, _please say no. Please say no. Please say no._

Katagirl says: It's not. But I might be a little distracted; I'm having drinks with a friend.

NimbusRider says: Oh.

Splat - his heart dropped straight to the floor. Was she on a date with someone she'd met on-line? Damn, damn, damn! Someone beat him to it! He should have just asked her. Why didn't he just ask her?

Blip...

Katagirl says: Yeah, she's celebrating some very good news. We're very excited over here.

Gohan blinked. _She? _Phew! Suddenly his heart wasn't beating as fast. _Right, so it's a girl-friend, like Lime. Not some faceless guy that beat me to the punch. Oh crap! What am I doing not responding? I should say something, um...right. Okay, so her friend received some good news, let's see...okay..._

NimbusRider says: That makes two of us then, me and your friend. Remember the investigation I told you about?

Katagirl says: Um...bridge thingy right?

NimbusRider says: Yeah, the Golden bridge. It's finally over. The district attorney made a decision earlier tonight. Those guys will be facing negligence charges for sure.

Katagirl says: Ooh! Great! Great! You know me, Ms V for all things Virtuous. Nothing excites me more than watching the bad guys get it!

Gohan blinked. Actually no, he didn't know that; and Ms... V? Why V?

Er, never mind that, he chuckled at her enthusiasm. There was something slightly chirpy about her demeanour tonight. Maybe it had to do with being out, or being with a friend, or maybe the 'drinks'.

NimbusRider says: I guess so XD

Katagirl says: Ooh! Ooh! Now I have two things to celebrate!

NimbusRider says: Yeah, that's true. Well, I don't want to keep you on the phone while you're out celebrating with your friend, but um...do you think you'll be on later? When you get home?

Katagirl says: Ooh! I have a great idea! You should come out and join us! Then we can all celebrate together!

Gohan's fingers froze over the keys. He blinked and re-read her message again. Was she...joking around?

NimbusRider says: Um...

Katagirl says: So? What's it gonna be Cloud guy. Join us?

Gohan knew for a fact that he'd definitely not had any noodles with his room-service earlier; but right now, something was coiling itself hard and fast in his stomach.

NimbusRider says: You're being serious?

Katagirl says: I know it's late and you live in the middle of nowhere...

NimbusRider says: That's not a problem; I'm actually in the city right now.

Katagirl says: Ooh! Satan City, really?

"Heh heh he..." Gohan laughed nervously to himself. Well, more like sixteen hundred kilometres from Satan City, but...if he paced himself, so his hair wouldn't be entirely windswept when he landed, he could be in Satan City in half an hour. So technically he was as good as _in_ Satan City, he reasoned.

NimbusRider says: Um...yeah, flew in for a work thing earlier, a new case.

Katagirl says: Ooh! Great! Great! I'm sending you an address...

_She sure sounds different, so... chirpy, using expressions like 'ooh!' a lot tonight._

He didn't have time to dwell on it though – this was big! He was actually going to meet her. Hurriedly he punched the address she'd given him in his phone to let his GPS show him where to fly.

He grabbed the clean clothes hanging behind his door; tossed the laundry packaging and got dressed at high-speed.

Then he was out the window, heading for Satan City.

* * *

"I hate you!" Videl lashed out at her friend, the tips of her nostrils pulsing with anger.

"Hah hah you love me!" grinned Erasa as she wrapped an arm around her friends' shoulders, only to have Videl shrug her off.

The dark haired heroine was just ablaze with disbelief. In the ten minutes that she'd been in the bathroom, Erasa had taken her purse, dug out her phone, talked with NimbusRider and turned her night upside down.

"You invited a total stranger to join us? Are you freaking mad?" she narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "This time you've gone too far Erasa, how could you?"

* * *

_**That's the chapter. Please leave your thoughts on the story so far. **_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_**Brought to you Gue22**_

...

"This is for the best Videl. The sooner you meet him, the sooner you can figure out if he's like all the rest." Erasa reasoned.

"But I don't want to meet him! It's too soon!" Videl yelled, snatching her phone back from her traitorous friend's clutches. "I usually wait weeks before I agree to meet someone I-"

"And that has worked out for you in the past has it?" Erasa asked rhetorically. "No. It hasn't."

Videl opened her mouth to retort, but released several bouts of air instead. Turning around she folded her arms and looked away.

Erasa sighed, "Look Videl, you never talk to me about these online weirdo's nearly as much as you've talked about this cloud guy - and you just met him! I think it's best to figure him out before you fall even harder."

"Fall?" Videl quirked her brow. "Let's not get melodramatic now." She dismissed the implication.

"Pshh, you obviously like him; you spent the majority of the night checking your phone for notifications for crying out loud! Don't think I didn't notice."

"I enjoy talking to him, there's nothing wrong with that."

"My point exactly, if he turns out to be another one that can't handle your fame, the sooner you know the better right? No point in wasting several weeks on a guy who's just gonna be another let down."

Videl gritted her teeth - Erasa was so infuriating with her wretched insightfulness. "Humph!" She turned from her again, and moved to the edge of the lounge.

She placed her forehead against the cool wall of glass and peered down at the dance floor below. The crowd was happily drinking, some chatting, but most of them dancing. Some people were in groups of friends, but there were a lot of couples too. They all looked so carefree, some holding hands, some with their arms around each other, some giggling, others blushing...she sighed.

That's all she wanted really – a normal relationship with a normal guy. Full stop.

Instead, she'd had such a terrible history with men in the past that she'd felt forced to strip her name, put on an anonymous cap and meet people on the internet. A year into it and she'd still not met someone willing to like her for her.

She'd had five failed dates so far, the last one only a week ago! Things had been great with Sky24, for six weeks they'd been able to hold some semblance of a relationship until...they'd met in person.

She sighed, as her eyes continued to move around the scenery below. Away from the dance floor, just a short distance from the bar, she spied a jubilant group of girls talking and laughing animatedly. One of the girls – dark hair, blue eyes; clad in a tasteful blue dress, blushed when a guy from another group approached her, placing an exact replica of her now empty cocktail next to her. Videl eyed the dark-haired girl curiously, wondering what she'd do. She found herself smiling along with the guy when the girl accepted the drink, offering a smile and the seat next to her.

It was all so simple, so...natural. She was sure the girl had her own concerns about the guy: What's his angle? Is he really interested in getting to know me...or...is he just trying to get me drunk? Is he trying to impress his friends? Is he hoping to take me home for a one-night stand? She was sure the girl had some of those concerns, and probably so many others – that was also natural.

Somehow though, she doubted that her doubts included: Is he trying to get me to invite him home so he can fall at my father's feet and worship him? Or...is he trying to get me naked in a place with a hidden camera so he can post it on a website and boast about it to the world? Is he hoping to squeeze some money out of me? Is he hoping to use my name to get a job?

Videl gritted her teeth - these were the bad experiences of the past that had brought her down this on-line path to begin with. And now this path had led her here - pressed to meet yet another stranger from the internet, but this time, without being fully prepared for it – damn Erasa, rushing her like this!

But...as much as she hated to admit it - this was her own fault, all of it. First she'd ordered champagne to celebrate Erasa's news, and unused to having more than just a glass or two of any type of alcohol, the two bottles they'd polished had gone straight to her head.

Then, she'd been powerless and stupid enough to blabber on and on about this new internet guy that was keeping her up all night – consequently incriminating herself about her real reasons for practically sleeping her days away this past week.

What-more, after all that blabbing, she'd been foolish enough to leave her purse with her phone behind while she went to the bathroom.

Urgh! Erasa was such a meddlesome nuisance when she wanted to be but...in this situation...she was also right. In just one week, she found herself looking forward to interacting with Nimbz more than she'd ever done with any of the other others – even the ones she'd met in person.

If she kept their online interactions alive for a few more weeks, only to meet him down the line and get disappointed yet again...meh...it just wasn't worth it.

"You win Erasa, I'll go. I'll meet him." she said dispassionately. "I guess I just wanted to enjoy the ride a little longer before the crash, you know?" She looked sad when she turned her eyes back in her friend's direction.

"Hey now, come on, don't be like that." Erasa draped her arm over her shoulder and walked her back to sit on the couch.

"Urgh! You know I'm right Erasa. Just look at my track record with guys. Crash and burn, that's how it goes."

Erasa gave her a stern glare. "I'll have none of that pessimism, thank you very much! This one might be a keeper, you have to be positive if you hope to pop your cherry one day Ms V for Virgin."

"Erasa!"

Erasa laughed at the comically horrified expression on her friends' face. For such a tough tomboy Videl was awfully easy to rattle.

"Hmph! He's gonna take one look at my face, one look at my name...and then...it's game over."

"Shut up and stop being so negative!" Erasa gave her a light smack on the head before she jumped to her feet to lock the lounge doors.

"Ow!" complained Videl.

"That didn't even hurt," Erasa stuck out her tongue. "Right, I've locked the door so we won't be interrupted. Let's swap our outfits real quick," she said in haste, already slipping out of her little dress.

"Huh?" Videl stared, confused.

"Come hurry Videl," urged Erasa. "I'll wear your dress, and you wear mine. I'll lower my head and toss my drape over my head, then have one of the bouncers walk me out of the club in your clothes. You know some paparazzi have probably gathered out there by now. As soon as they swarm me with their cameras, you can slip out unnoticed, take a cab down the street, then head to Orange Square before they notice that I'm not really you okay?"

"Gee, you think of everything don't you?" said Videl rather dryly. "One would think you'd been planning this for months. But if you think I'm going to wear that slutty dress...Ow!" she yelped.

"It's not slutty, it's sexy you frigid old prune, now strip! This is the only way we can get you out of here without being followed. In case you've forgotten, your cloud weirdo said he'd be at the rendezvous point in half an hour, and that was ten minutes ago! So...move!"

"Fine, fine," Videl relented as she eyed Erasa's inappropriate dress wearily, "but if he mistakes me for a call-girl I'll...Ow!"

...

He checked his watch, urgh! He was ten minutes early, but this was definitely the place – Orange Square. Kata had said to meet in-front of the larger than life Orange Statue at the base of the stairs. He turned around to stare at the sculptured, oversized sphere – no doubt, this was the correct location. But...it wasn't good to be early, now he had all this time to worry himself to death.

What if she didn't come? What if she did come? What if she didn't like him? Was he even dressed appropriately? He checked himself over – his black work shoes, his black work pants and white shirt – all crisp and clean from the hotel's laundry service. Nervously he scrutinized the other patrons passing by in the main square – most guys were in jeans, but some of the women looked really dressed up. And he...he looked like he was just coming from work.

_Great, I'm overdressed._

He slipped his hands into his pockets and paced the short length of the bottom stair. After a minute, he checked his watch again.

Man, this was unnerving. He tried not to let his imagination get carried away but...he couldn't help but wonder what she looked like, funny who he'd never even thought about those kind of details before. She said she was a fighter so she was probably built like one.

An image of a tall bulky woman, the exact replica of Nappa with red spiky hair tossing a Ki blast suddenly came to mind. _Aw come on, just because she's a fighter doesn't mean she's built like an oversized Saiyan._

He tried to imagine what a typical female fighter would look like but, grr...he didn't really know any female fighters. The only image that came to mind was off a dark haired woman with bangs dressed in a purple traditional Gi with lines forming on her brow and - Gah! That was his mother! _Okay, now that would just be weird._

He shook the image off as he continued to pace.

_What if she's scary?_

A flush crept up on his cheeks as an image of a glowering Kirsty popped into his mind. The young engineer fell into a flawless stance; wearing a black, skin-tight catsuit (which just so happened to be a replica of the one he'd seen Phoenix's nemesis wearing). In her hands she held a long shimmering Katana with such finesse that it made him gulp. Her hair was pulled up so tight, the skin on her forehead was practically transparent, showing off the veins underneath. And those eyes...with those long sweeping lashes, they held a certain predatory glint that he'd never seen before. 'Didn't you know Son? Kata is short for Katana!' she yelled as she charged him. And even though he felt afraid for his balls after her threat the other day, he had to admit that he'd never seen anything more beautiful, more exciting.

Luckily for Gohan, a loud motorbike went zooming past in a racket, forcing him to snap out of his fantasy. "Heh heh heh," he shook his head as he laughed at his own foolishness. _Okay, so definitely less Phoenix comics from now on._

He continued to pace back and forth though, powerless to stop himself from conjuring up all kinds of other scenarios – all of them involving his crush – Kirsty; in all shades of personas and martial arts outfits.

...

Videl slipped the cab driver a 20 and waved off the change. As he took off, she stood alongside the street across from Orange Square and immediately spotted a tall dark haired guy pacing back and forth at the base of the stairs – it had to be him.

He was the only one there. Plus - he kept glancing at his watch as if he was waiting for something.

So tall, was the first thing she thought, ever thankful that she was wearing heels to give her a slight advantage in the height department. Nice broad shoulders, definitely the build of a fighter from what I can see – was the second thing she thought.

Though the street lights were on, it was difficult to see his face – just his side profile. Man, this meeting was even more unnerving than usual, probably because she really, really wanted this to work out. Her stomach felt hot, repelling all that champagne and her hands clammy. _Right, this is it Videl, let's get this crash over and done with._

Nervously, she smoothed her hands down Erasa's dress, her fingers and palms gliding down the cool texture of its hundreds of gold glittering sequins. She'd had to take off her bra and stuff it in her purse to wear this dress. The little number was completely bare backed, revealing too much for her comfort and not to mention too damn short. It also hung in an embarrassingly low cowl-neck that dipped into a very low V between her breasts. So low in fact, the tip of the V almost reached all the way down to her navel.

The dress was just too revealing, too flashy and most definitely too racy. It was definitely not something Videl Satan would have hanging in her closet.

Clutching her purse firmly under her arm, Videl crossed the street, her heels clanking as loud as the heavy pounding of heart

...

Gohan had picked up several clanking heels in the ten minutes that he'd been waiting, but none of them had been clanking towards his direction – these ones were.

He stopped pacing and turned his head towards the direction of the sound...and just like that, he forgot how to breathe.

Stunned, he found himself momentarily blinded by the shimmer of golden sparks as they danced off her dress like a thousand fireflies as the light reflecting sequins glittered under the fall of the street-lights.

The sound of her footsteps was momentarily shut out by the loud thumping of his heart. His mouth dried up as he willed himself to shift the focus of his eyes from following the dip in the exposed flesh between her breasts to look instead at her face – not that it helped calm him down – it was a beautiful face.

It can't be her, he concluded, probably just someone passing by.

"Nimbus...Rider?" came the slightly hesitant question as she came to a stop right before him.

With huge disbelieving eyes Gohan forced himself to speak. "Kata?" His voice was raspy even to his own ears

"Um...yeah, nice to meet you," she said, but her face said otherwise. Gohan noticed with dismay that she had dread in her eyes, like some inevitable moment of doom was approaching.

"I uh...yeah...ahem." he cleared his throat, his voice unrecognizably raspy. "It's nice to meet you too." His face burned as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

He was struggling to keep his eyes on her face, they kept dipping to the exposed flesh between her chest, slanting to her curves or taking in the creamy skin of her thighs, and no matter what he did, he just couldn't stop his nose from tingling.

What kind of a dress was this supposed to be? He was never one to look at a woman inappropriately – okay, so maybe once or twice he might have let his eyes linger on Kirsty's bust or long legs, but that was different. Right now, he felt incredibly disadvantaged. It was as if the little glittery dress was challenging him to stare at all the right...erm...exposed parts. He was in big trouble and he knew it.

"I uh...I...just can't believe it's you." he added quickly, worried about getting scolded for was on the verge of frantic, his heart thumping furiously from nerves. _But look at that dress! It's impossible not to stare!_

The girl frowned as she regarded him; a million thoughts seemed to be racing through her head. But what could she be thinking? Maybe she just didn't like the look of him; she didn't seem pleased at all.

"So you recognise me then?" she said, a hint of bitter disappointment in her voice.

"Recognise you? What do you mean?" Gohan forced himself to look _only_ at her eyes. "Have we met before?" His face tilted to the side as he stared in confusion.

Her eyes did a double take. "So you _don't_ recognise me?"

Oh boy, he knew that look – she was getting angry! But...but...why? _We couldn't have met somewhere before, could we?_

He took in her pear shaped face, her robust cheekbones and those eyes - as blue as the wild nigellas adorning his backyard in the spring. He took in the falling curtain of dark tresses framing her face and...nothing. Not one spec of recognition. He could swear right now on his brother's life that they'd never met before.

But...why would she ask such a question if they hadn't?

Like a guilty man trying to think up a good lie – his tongue twisted in a knot as he felt uncertain of what to say. Was he in danger of repeating his father's mistake of the 23rd Martial Arts tournament? The mistake of not recognising his mother when they'd met again for the first time as adults after seven years?

He didn't think so, he was pretty sure they'd never met.

He tried to think of all the girls he'd ever met while younger, the orphans, the villagers from Frypan, kids from Chikze Village, random encounters in the city but...zero, zip, blank. He was at a loss.

"Um...I...don't recognize you, not really. I'm sorry." he admitted, as he nervously watched her face. Was he gonna get it now?

She stared, as if surprised by his answer, but not entirely in a bad way. Her eyes roamed over his face, taking in his nervous disposition and apologetic demeanor. Why did he have this sinking feeling that things were going downhill?

But then, just like that, her entire demeanour changed.

"Oh, well, that's okay. For a second there it looked like you thought you recognized me or something," she smiled. "So...here we are then: NimbusRider and Katagirl in the flesh."

"Yeah, here we are." Gohan exhaled, it was such a relief to feel the tension around her dissipate. He'd been really worried for a minute there.

Now he was just plagued by nerves, it was one thing on the internet, it was easy to be himself without a care in the word, but faced with such a beautiful girl, he felt ill equipped to deal with the situation.

"Does it feel weird for you? Meeting a strange girl from the internet for the first time?" she said, as if reading his thoughts.

"I don't know," said Gohan, he was awestruck by her warm smile. Her whole face just seemed to soften somehow. "It does feel weird, but in a nice sort of way." He smiled.

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"What's weird is that I have this intense urge to be typing right now." He chuckled softly, slipping his hands in his pockets to contain them. He was feeling rather fidgety.

The girl laughed, shaking her head, dark strands of hair crashing softly against her face like a lace curtain. "Tell you what, we could always do our normal thing you know – write?" A twinkle danced in her eyes. "Since we don't have our computers we could always pull out our phones and type to each other instead of talking, how's that?" she teased.

Gohan smiled – one hand finding its way out of his pocket and into his scalp. "It would certainly feel more normal, definitely more familiar." He couldn't help but grin at the image - the two of them sitting down next to each other, chatting via the keystrokes of their phones, instead of their vocals. "But...I think we should ditch the norm and be adventurous tonight. What do you think?"

He could have soared right then, when a wide smile spread itself across her face.

"Fine, you've convinced me. No electronic devices, no chat screens. Adventure it is!" she laughed, more so when his face broke into an even bigger smile. "So...where shall we take this adventure then? Where shall we go? What should we do?"

"I don't know," shrugged Gohan. "I thought we were going to celebrate with your friend? Where is she?"

She flushed, though he couldn't be sure why, but a finger crept up her neck where she started scratching lightly."Um...yeah," she began, almost uncertainly. "See...my friend and I, we were having drinks at Reserves."

"Reserves?"

"Yeah it's this big club down on Hercule Ave. Everyone's always lining up to get in, but...you're not from around here so I guess you don't really know about it." Her hand waved off the idea.

"No. Never heard of it, sorry."

"It's not important. We were there, but it's kinda hard to talk with all that music and all those lights flashing everywhere, so I told her I'd come and meet you out here instead."

"Oh okay. I feel bad though, I hope I didn't intrude on your night."

"Hardly, she took this opportunity to call her boyfriend over so she could end her night with 'a happy ending'," she rolled her eyes, "so...it's just us."

Gohan's cheeks burned at the implication of 'happy ending'. He dipped his chin and lowered his eyes shyly, hoping to hide the blush he could feel forming on his cheeks. "Oh okay. I uh...do you wanna walk around a bit then, and just...you know...talk? I think there's a park near here somewhere. We could-"

"Err...you know, I would love to take a walk on any other night but-" she pointed at her feet. "It's kinda embarrassing to admit but I'm still new to this whole stiletto heels thing, and after walking just across the street, I already want to sit down somewhere and take them off."

Gohan smiled, taking in the pencil heels, to his untrained eye they looked at least six inches high. Actually they looked more like a dangerous stabbing weapon than shoes. Something the airlines should definitely ban. "Ah, I see. Okay then. Um...I don't really know this city at all so..."

"Well it's pretty late so most restaurants are closed now, but...let's see..." she tapped her chin. "There's a Trafalagian pub two blocks from here. It's not the best neighborhood in town and it's kind of run-down, but they have a quiet little garden at the back.

"Really?" Gohan's eyes immediately lit up. "Trafalagian from Trafalag Island? All the way out here?"

"Of course," she gave him a mischievous smile, and in the worst imitation of a tour-guide Gohan had ever heard – not that he'd been on many tours – he watched as she made a flowery hand gesture and proceeded to say: "Haven't you heard Sir? This is Satan City! Home to the one and only Mr. Satan! Therefore it has to be the finest city in the world! Whether it's first class culture, art, cars, fashion, women or cuisine, from any region or country you can think of – Satan City's got it!"

Gohan chuckled, at her impersonation. He may not have been sure of it before, but he was now - she was definitely tipsy; he could smell the subtle hint of alcohol coming from her, mixed up with all kinds of other delicious smells. And even though he'd never met her before, he had an inkling that she wasn't this cheerful all the time.

He counted himself lucky that things seemed to be going well for them. "That's good to know," he smiled. "I'm always game for first class cuisine, and I might just need to buy a car real soon, though I doubt it will be first class on an intern's salary," he chuckled.

"So," he braved two steps in her direction, "maybe the Satan City tour-lady will give me a free tour one day when..." he dipped his head to her feet. "she's not wearing such dangerous looking shoes."

He felt all kinds of warm when her face broke into a hearty smile. "It's a deal," she extended her hand out to him.

Gohan grabbed it, impressed by the firm shake.

"In the meantime," she said, their hands still linked post handshake. "Trafalagian drinks await. What do you say Nimbzy, shall we?"

Gohan chuckled at the name, it felt so weird hearing it voiced off-screen."It's Gohan."

"Huh?"

"My name, it's Gohan. I should have introduced myself properly – shame on me."

She laughed, "Well, are you going to ask for mine, or shame yourself even further?"

The grin on his face just spread itself further, but before he could ask, she tightened her grip on his hand once more.

"It's Videl by the way, and it's nice to finally put a face and a name to my favourite vampire."

Gohan grinned at the reference, as she shook his hand. It was a good firm shake.

"There, now you know my name. Don't you feel more like a gentleman now?" she teased.

"I do, I do. Thank you for rescuing my chivalry."

"You're welcome, I've been known to save the day on more than one occasion."

"I see, Ms V for all things Virtuous suddenly makes a lot more sense. It's a nice name - Videl."

For some reason she flushed at the reference, but before he could ask, she was already pulling him across the street.

Gohan complied, allowing himself to be led. He didn't say it out loud, but somehow he had the feeling that he'd already scored the best of the so called 'first class women of Satan City'.

Now all he had to do was man up and finally ask her.

...

_**That's the chapter guys; let us know how it goes.**_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

...

_**The lovely Cover was created by: IjustWokeUp**_

_**This chapter is brought to you by Gue22 and ShadowMajin**_

_**...**_

Pre-dawn was always beautiful, boasting a coming of blue's and orange's in the sky. Street-lights still twinkled in the distance, though their shine somewhat dimmed in the lighter background. And with summer in full swing, the early morning air was cool and refreshing.

The beauty of such a morning was missed by this particular duo though, they were too busy being aware of each other, each finding hidden beauty in the little things the other did or said, albeit it secretly.

They'd spent all night sitting on cheap plastic chairs in the little back garden of the Trafalagian pub. Though the place was run-down, with a lingering odour of marijuana in the air, not to mention the terrible lighting - neither had paid any attention to the finer details of their surroundings. They'd spent their time drinking – namely Videl who had two cocktails. They did a lot of talking – about any and absolutely everything under the sun, but most importantly, through it all, they'd found themselves laughing all night long.

Ultimately, they'd been kicked out when they'd made no move to leave even when the rest of the staff was long gone, and the pub was down to just the bar-tender.

This early in the morning, the rest of Satan City was relatively quiet with only the faint sounds of running engines in the bigger, much busier streets. On this small one-way street though, infectious laughter could be heard over the slow clanking of Videl's heels.

"You really don't like it all?" she exclaimed, pressing on a button to stop the music that was playing from her phone.

"Uh...no, not at all," Gohan grinned. "Too loud. It sounds more like a child throwing a tantrum with a set of drums than music."

"What a horrible thing to say about one of my favourite songs!" Videl playfully smacked him on the arm.

"I'm sorry, but it's so angry though, I could never listen to more than ten seconds of it." said Gohan as they walked on.

"Well let's hear yours then, since you've dissed all of mine."

"Uh," he pulled out his phone. "I don't really listen to music per say, but I do have a few background tracks that I play when I'm working, let's see..." he fidgeted around with his phone. "Here's a nice one," he pressed play.

Videl listened for all of five seconds before she put up her hand. "That will be all Sir, thank you very much."

"Not to your liking?"

"Sure, if I wanted to take a vow of silence to join my mother in Monochus while she meditates her life away. I'd definitely take it along."

Gohan laughed, "Well, that's the last thing I want." He glided his fingers around his screen until the music stopped. "There, I stopped it. Now we can walk in peace."

"Actually no - I can't do this anymore," she said suddenly, promptly lifting up one foot after the other to pull off her heels. "There...that feels so much better." She wiggled her toes on the cold pavement, champagne heels dangling in her hand.

"Sorry for all this walking. I'd offer you my shoes but your feet are so...tiny." He stared, marvelling at how much shorter she'd just become without her shoes. "Gosh, you're tiny."

"Hey!"

"I don't mean it as a bad thing," he added quickly. "You just look so much...shorter," he smiled. "However it's really not a good idea to walk around like that. Look over there, this street is not so clean, broken glass and Kami knows what else."

"Urgh, maybe," she scrunched her nose, gazing at the stretch of road ahead of her. "Bleh, if only I had Phoenix, he'd sweep me under his wings and fly me away." she laughed, even more so at his expression. "Aww, don't look like that, it's okay. You have your own superpowers right?

Gohan blanched, "Wha...super...p-po...what do you mean Kata?" he stuttered in a rather high pitched voice.

"Well, last time I checked, Vampires are super strong right? Jump really high or...I know!" she grinned, "quickly! turn into a bat, I'll hop on your back and we can fly away."

Gohan shook his head at his own foolishness. For a second there when she'd said super-powers, he'd thought...urgh, it wasn't important. He had forgotten her little jab about him being some kind of vampire from the the 14th century.

"Um...I would, but...even as tiny as you are; I don't think you'll fit on my back if I turned into a bat."

Videl laughed. "Good point."

"Don't worry, all is not lost," said Gohan. "you said you're trained in martial arts right? I won't transform into my ultimate bat form right now," he grinned. "But you can still hop on my back - I'll give you a piggy-ride."

"Very funny,"

"I'm being serious; I give my little brother these all the time."

"I don't think-"

"Look I'll make it easy for you," he took two steps and semi-squatted before her. "Hop on; it's better than getting a piece of glass stuck in your foot. Come on."

Videl looked thoughtful for a second, but in the end, Gohan felt a tiny weight pressing on him as she hopped onto his back, her legs wrapping around his waist.

Her slender arms wrapped around his neck for support – the straps of her heels dangling in one hand, and with an unexpected sigh, she pressed her face firmly against his back.

Gohan's eyes widened as he straightened up. She'd made herself more than a little comfortable, and her tiny body fit around him perfectly.

"I don't think this was such a good idea," she said as he walked on; the words warming his back on the spot where her mouth was pressed. "I feel like a baby on a carrier, I'm getting sleepy just being here,"

Gohan had to agree – this was not one of his best ideas, though, his own reasons had nothing to do with her being sleepy. Having those legs wrapped around him like that, her thighs and groin pressed against him in that little dress, sleepy was the last thing _he_ felt. This was completely different from carrying Goten. He went from playful and carefree to...well...tense and very much aware of all their points of contact.

"I'll just call a cab to take us home."

At those words Gohan felt a sense of panic. Home! She couldn't go home! Not yet! He was having so much fun, the thought of the night coming to an end was just...depressing. Plus...he still had to ask her to the fundraiser!

He felt her fidget about on his back as she pulled out her phone from her purse.

"Um...Kata...I mean Videl," he corrected, "Hold on just a sec, I'd like to uh...before you call for a cab, there's something I want to ask you."

"Uh-huh," she said sleepily.

"I...uh..." His cheeks burned as an insecurity that had been absent all evening suddenly appeared, swimming its way to the surface. Good thing she couldn't see his face. "I'm really glad that you invited me out tonight," he began, "and I...I have this thing,"

"Thing?" she asked sleepily as she shifted, adjusting her legs, her thighs rubbing all around him, making him very aware of the other 'thing' he had which was being affected by all of this.

"Um...yeah, next weekend, for work," he said uncomfortably. This piggy-ride was a very, very bad idea. Why couldn't she be still! "It's like a fundraiser type of thing, like a ball" he continued, trying to ignore the feel of her breasts as she tried different ways to rest herself comfortably.

"Mmhh," she sighed against his shoulder blades. That really tingled, in all kinds of inappropriate ways. He really had to get a grip!

"See I was gonna go with this friend of mine, but she has plans with a real guy-"

"you a fake guy?" she said almost sluggishly.

"No!" he denied heatedly. "Not that I'm not a real guy or anything, I am! I am!" he flushed even more so since his 'guy part' was starting to come awake on this cool summer morning. "Just...you know, we are just friends and she has an actual date, with a guy she likes you know?"

"Mmk,"

"So, I...kinda...um...I don't really have a girlfriend or anything, and this thing, well I kinda need a date for it." He cleared his throat nervously. "So I signed up on-line hoping to meet someone that I-"

"So you want me," she said lazily, summing up his less than eloquent monologue. "be your date?"

Gohan flushed at the truth of the first half of that statement. He wasn't one to spend a great deal of time thinking about those certain 'wants', okay, okay, so maybe he'd thought about it once or twice with Kirsty every time he was alone in his room while mas...whoa! he was really getting carried away here."I...err...yes," he swallowed. "Would you? Be my date? It's next week Friday."

"Mmhh,"

"R-Really?"

"Mmhh, I'll come to your thingy."

...

Gohan soared through the sky as he headed back to his hotel in Gold City, a wide smile on his face. Tonight had been great, no terrific! He hadn't felt this uplifted in so long, it was nothing short of amazing. Kami, he loved this feeling. He didn't ever want it to stop.

Meeting Kata—no, Videl; Videl was her name—had gone better than he could have possibly dreamed. She was so beautiful and funny and open that it just took his breath away, _and_ she'd actually shown interest in him! That had never happened to him before, not like this, not with a girl. And all that wasn't even including her acceptance to the fundraiser!

A grin appeared on his face, recalling their good-bye after seeing her safely in a cab. 'See you at your thingy,' she'd smiled with droopy eyes, as she curled into a tiny sleeping ball at the back of the cab. Man, what a night! He was gonna have to get in touch with Marcy soon. He could finally send her an email to say 'in your face Marcy, here is the name of my plus one!'

On impulse, he did a loop-de-loop, laughing as he did so. It was something he had down as a child whenever he was happy, and this was an occasion worth the effort. He was literally on Cloud 9, the fluffy white formations of condensed moisture floating all around him. Nothing could get him down; not even that cloud of smoke rising out of the city down below.

Gohan paused at that, slowing his flight. Huh? A billowing cloud of dark smoke was rising out of the city, the fading darkness of the early morning skies making it look darker than it really was.

The Son boy couldn't help but feel like he should go check it out, make sure that no one was hurt or trapped inside. Yeah, he needed to go do that.

Plunging down, Gohan flew towards the smoke. It was here that he began to see white puffs of smoke appearing, causing some relief to well up within him. The fire department was there and they were in the middle of putting the fire out. That was good.

As he drew near it though, Gohan began searching for a convenient place to land. It wouldn't do for him to land right in the middle of the scene and freak everyone out.

Finding an alleyway a couple blocks away, he quickly landed in it and as nonchalantly as he could, he walked out of the alley, heading towards the scene of the fire.

With every step, Gohan began to realize that the building that was on fire was in fact his hotel. 'What in the world?' Flares roared out of broken windows, scorching the formerly-polished walls. Surrounding the building were large red fire trucks and men in heavy yellow jackets scrambling around as they tried to put out the fires. Several of the men had long hoses in their arms, spraying the building with gallons and gallons of water. There were large crowds of people, half of them in sleep-wear, milling about as they watched the spectacle.

Alarm began welling up inside of him as he began jogging towards the building. Due to the people standing about, there was a constant murmur about as they talked. Many of them were hoping everyone had gotten out, but there seemed to be some comments about someone already considered dead.

Oh jeez, and he could have prevented that death had he been here.

Quickly, he pushed out with his senses and swept the roaring building, but apart from the fire men hard at work, he couldn't pick out anything or anyone that appeared to be trapped inside. That was a relief, at least all the guests and staff had managed to get out. Or...he couldn't sense those trapped under the flames because they were already dead – as per the murmurs.

No, no, these were just people speculating. If he wanted answers, he needed to talk with one of the firemen. They would know what was what. Heading towards one of the trucks, he eyed one particular fireman that seemed to be barking out orders to all of the others. He definitely looked like someone in-charge.

However, before he could reach him, a thick meaty hand grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. "Son!" his boss exclaimed, relief thick in his voice. "You got out! You're alive!"

Gohan let out an uneasy chuckle. "Uh, yeah. Yeah I did."

"Thank the Kami above! We were all worried, m'boy. We all thought you were trapped inside somewhere."

"Well, I'm okay," he reassured him. "Do you know what happened?"

His boss shook his head as he looked back at the burning hotel. "A fire started in one of the rooms. It got out of control and started burning everything down. I was just coming in from the Casino, talking to the receptionist in the lobby when the fire alarm went off. I've been searching for you ever since."

Huh, so that's what it was. Still, he had to know who, if anyone had died. "I've been hearing murmurs about someone being declared dead already. Do you—"

"Yeah, we all thought that was you," his boss interrupted him. "I didn't see you when everyone came running out and I knew you'd been in your room. You're the only guest that was unaccounted for, and your floor...well...there's really nothing left up there, so yeah, everyone'd written you off Son."

A light flush began to work its way onto Gohan's face, but he suppressed it. It wouldn't do anyone any good to tell them he had been in Satan City when all of this happened.

"Found the source of the fire, Sir," one of the fire-fighters said nearby, causing both Gohan and his boss to look towards him. The fire-fighter had just jogged up to the man Gohan had been heading towards before he had been intercepted – the one that looked in-charge.

Gohan and his boss listened in on their conversation.

"We found ignition points in Room #653." said the fire-fighter.

"653?" Gohan's boss whispered to him. "Isn't that your room?" he regarded Gohan questioningly.

Gohan's face paled at that. That _was _his room. How did the fire start in there when he hadn't even been inside? Wait…that meant all of his belongings were gone, all his case files, along with his computer. Oh no! Anything but his computer, how was he going to talk with Ka—

"Son!" his boss yelled in his ear, ending his train of thought. "Did you start a fire in your room?" he demanded.

Immediately, Gohan shook his head. "No! Of course not!" he exclaimed in astonishment.

"Then how do you explain it? You went to sleep after we parted so...did you forget to put out a cigarette or something?"

"I don't even smoke!" he jumped.

Oh, this looked bad. This looked very, very bad. While he could tell the truth, it wasn't going to do him any favours. It'd look like a blatant lie if he said it, since no one could be in a city hundreds of miles away. And if he proved it, he'd lose his job in a heartbeat and probably start a riot by frightening everyone here.

So how did he explain this? Oh crap, this was going to be difficult.

"W-well, you see, Sir," he stuttered out. "I, uh…I wasn't in my room…"

"You weren't? But you told me you were going there to get some sleep. Did you lie? Ditch the old boss and headed over to the strip clubs ey?"

"No! no, no, no! I did go to my room, but I…uhh…I…had…trouble sleeping! Yeah, I just couldn't go to sleep, so I went for a short walk. To get some fresh air. Ended up lasting longer than I thought."

His boss looked dubious at his excuse, something that frightened the Son boy. But then the man clasped his shoulder. "Alright then, be sure to explain all that in a report. The Fire Inspector from Gold City is probably sniffing around, and if they've already identified origin, we can assume that their lab is already hard at work and cause is next."

Gohan nodded.

"I'll contact our Fire Engineers and maybe they can come down here and lend a hand, but I want you to make yourself available to the locals and also," he whispered, "keep an eye on how they're handling this. Be sure to let me know when you find out immediately—we need to head off any potential finger pointing that's going to occur, especially since the fire was started in your room."

"Yes Sir!" Gohan replied with gusto.

...

She peeled her eyes open and cursed Erasa's good news. A glance at her phone as she shut off the alarm confirmed that she'd only had three hours sleep and already it was time to get up.

This was the part she hated the most – the morning after. Her head, oh her poor head, it was reaping the just rewards of a foolish inexperienced drinker going all out on hard liquor cocktails and two bottles of champagne. Couldn't she have restricted herself to one glass for the sake of the toast?

Urgh. She knew what she needed: water, any analgesic she could find and plenty of sleep.

She crawled to the bathroom and rummaged through her medicine cabinet. She popped something or other with a heavy dose of codeine and paracetomol and then washed it down with two glasses of water. Pushing her hair back she stared at her reflection – yuck. Her face was smudged with what was left of the light make-up she'd had on last night, not to mention those red eyes boasting heavy bags down below.

Well, she'd never pretended to be a lady, but she could have washed her face a little even if she'd skipped the rest of the annoying bedtime routine. Even more, sleeping in this dress that smelt like...eww, she cringed as she sniffed it. So it definitely _was_ marijuana lingering in that pub. She sighed, she might just have to tip her friends in the station.

Tearing off Erasa's scandalous dress, she stepped into the shower. As much as she needed the sleep, today was Saturday, and she had a pressing engagement she couldn't ignore. Just thinking about it made all of last night...the drinks with Erasa, and of course the highlight – meeting Nimbz, all of that, just felt like a slap in the face.

How could she?

While she was out having the time of her life, that poor guard's family, no he had a name – Monna Oshwele. While she was out in the company of the most wonderful guy she'd ever met, Oshwele's family was probably crying themselves to sleep and it was all because of her, her weakness, her failure, her shameful inability to save him.

"_T-Thank...y-you Ms Satan, you...you...saved us." stammered the guard, choking on his own blood as Videl held him. In less than a second, he was dead._

She tried to put the guilt at bay as she stepped into the large shower. Taking a seat on the custom made rock, she turned on all 14 jets. The concave rock was big enough to lie on should she wish it, but she chose to sit with her head resting against the custom pillows instead. As the hot water jetted out from every angle, the pressure against her skin felt like a fitting punishment. It was set to maximum, hard enough to hurt, but not to bruise.

She would have liked to stay longer, but she was running late as it was. The chief was probably on his way to pick her up and 'high profile' attendees such as them could not afford to be late. Working quickly she ran two coats of shampoo through her hair and scrubbed her skin as much as she could. It wouldn't do to smell like marijuana and alcohol at a funeral.

...

"Don't you ever scare your mother like that again young man!" Chichi swivelled round and poked him in the chest as soon as they left the madness of the police station.

"But mom, I told you. I wasn't even in the hotel when the fire started. I was perfectly safe," Gohan explained for the millionth time.

"That didn't stop that hotel manager from calling us in the middle of the night and scaring us half to death now did it? They had all but declared you dead!"  
She covered her face and wept.

"No," he hung his head. "I guess it did not. Sorry, mom."

Man, this fire business was never going to end was it? He'd had to sit for hours filling out reports, answering questions and generally trying not to look suspicious. Then his parents had arrived, seemingly the hotel had tracked down his next of kin when they had thought him dead. His mother had raised hell when she'd discovered that the Fire Inspector was taking him through what he called 'routine' questioning.

'So you didn't set the fire?` he'd asked many times, as if he didn't quiet believe him. The last time he'd directed that question at him his mother had finally snapped and lunged for his throat.

'My son is not an arsonist!' she'd screamed. Luckily his father had merely reeled her in and restrained her with a nervous chuckle.

He knew his mom was teetering on the crazy side when it came to protecting him, but Gohan had to agree with her outrage on this one. Seriously though, what motive would a guy like him have for starting a fire in a hotel?

They had managed to walk all the way to a deserted street, and he couldn't be more grateful. He was tired and hungry and all he wanted was a good breakfast to fill up his stomach and then get into his own bed and sleep. He could already imagine the drama that was going to ensure at the office on Monday. Hell, he'd be lucky if they didn't call him in over the weekend.

"I have a good mind to call a lawyer and sue that Inspector!" Chichi fumed. "But I'm just so glad you're okay!" she choked, then flung herself in his arms. "We should get you checked for smoke inhalation; it can be very damaging to the lungs you know."

"Chichi, he just said he wasn't even there," Goku reassured her.

"Oh, right. Just where were you mnn?" she glared suspiciously.

"I was out mom,"

"Out where Gohan? Don't think I don't know what Gold City is famous for. I know all there is to know about the casinos and the loose women, and Son Gohan if you've been in some strip club I swear-"

"Mom! I was not even in Gold City, I went to Satan City to meet a girl!"

"A girl?" both parents said simultaneously.

"Yes, a girl. I have that fundraiser this coming weekend and I flew over there to ask her to be my date in person okay?"

"Oh, my."

"So if it's all the same to you. I'm hungry and I'm tired and I'd really like to step into the shower and wash off all this dirt and," he sniffed himself, "I just reek of smoke. Dad?" he prompted.

"No problem Son, I'll get us home in a jiffy."

With two fingers to his forehead, his Dad moved them out of the mayhem of Gold City and saw them home.

...

Hours later, when he opened his eyes, he immediately lunged for his phone. The fire had taken his laptop, but he remembered that last night, Kata had been on a mobile application of their mutual dating site. A quick search and he was able to download the application onto his own phone. He logged in, breaking into a delighted smile when he saw that funny rectangle next to her name.

Hurriedly, he began typing.

NimbusRider says: Kata?

It took a few seconds too long, but eventually a response came through.

Katagirl says: Hi

He frowned, the greeting just felt so...bland. It didn't even have a smiley...

NimbusRider says: Hi! Glad to see you're on. I really had a great time last night. Just waking up actually XD

Katagirl says: Um yeah, me too.

Okay...now he was really worried.

NimbusRider says: Is something wrong?

Katagirl says: No, not really. Sorta. I don't know. Just can't concentrate enough to type right now. Sorry.

All he could do was just sit there staring at his enthusiasm as it went flying out the window. Something was definitely wrong, he could feel it. She was off, and he just couldn't understand why. They'd parted on such great terms last night. At least...he'd thought so. She'd even agreed to be his date and everything so why was she...could she be...

NimbusRider says: Do you feel like talking instead? I could, meet you, maybe, if you wanted, if you're not too busy.

He held his breath, he had to try something. It could be nothing, maybe she was just tired like she said, but if he'd learned anything from his parent's relationship it was that if his mom said nothing was wrong, something usually was. Luckily he was not so dense as to just take it with a grin and then sail out the window to train – something his dad almost always did. But boy would he pay for it later.

Katagirl says: You're still in Satan City?

He scratched his head, a little lie never hurt anyone.

NimbusRider says: Uh yeah, that work thing is still going on so I'm still here.

Katagirl says: What hotel are you staying in? I know my way around so it will be easier if I came to you.

Oh shit, um...hotel, hotel...he didn't think of that. Ah, did he even know any hotels? He could do a quick search but that might take a while. Um, this is not good.

Katagirl says: If coming to your hotel makes you feel uncomfortable we could always meet somewhere else.

NimbusRider says: No, no. It's fine. It's Satan Hotel.

It was the best he could come up with. He had a flash of Bulma rolling her eyes while reading some magazine. 'That man has no shame, not only did they name the city after him, but now he even has an avenue and a hotel named after him in every major city in the world'. That had been way back when Goten was still a baby.

He remembered how his mother had raged and ranted about how Orange City and all those avenues and hotels should have been 'Son & Son, instead of Satan. Personally he hadn't cared one way or the other, but he figured there must be a Satan Hotel in Satan City, if that article had had its facts right.

Katagirl says: Wow. You must work for a very rich company then.

Gohan cringed. Damn, was it one 'those' hotels then? Damn.

He thought of just meeting her outside and then going for a walk but then thought better of it. What if she was wearing heels again? The last thing she'd want to do is walk around again.

Ah, damn it!

They could always have a coffee in the lounge or bar or something, but would she want to see his room at some point? Did girls do things like that? He didn't know! He didn't know! He didn't have any experience with any of it. What if she was expecting to be invited to his room? Then what? If he didn't have one not only would he be caught in a lie, but he'd look like a fool too.

Man, why did he lie in the first place?

NimbusRider says: How long do you need?

Katagirl says: I'll head over right now, so fifteen minutes or so.

Gohan cringed. Fifteen minutes only? Damn. He'd have to move fast.

NimbusRider says: Great! Can't wait!

Katagirl says: Okay

That 'okay' just brought him down again. Why was she so...so...unlike herself?

But now was not the time to ponder on it, he had to move!

He climbed out of bed and got dressed; hurriedly he tossed some random clothes into a suitcase and dialled Bulma.

"If it isn't the arsonist," she teased.

"Very funny Bulma. I need your help. It's urgent!"

"Don't tell me they're actually going to arrest you?" she sounded appalled and worried now.

"No, this is about something else entirely. I need a room at Satan Hotel in Satan City. Can you make that happen in the next five minutes? I can't stress how urgent this is."

"Eww, Gohan, of all the hotels in Satan City, why would you want a room there?'"

"Please Bulma, I need that room," he spoke as he zipped up his bag. "There's this girl you see ,and I kinda lied about staying there, stupid I know...but now she's on her way there to meet me and-"

"You had me at girl Gohan, say no more. Leave it to me."

He sighed, tossing the bag on his shoulder as he raced out of his room. "Thanks Bulma."

...

He made it to the hotel in ten minutes flat. His super-speed would be nothing without the GPS on his phone. This way he didn't have to circle round and round in an unfamiliar city.

The hotel was ridiculous with all its unabashed opulence, just getting passed the walk-way shaded by immaculately trimmed palm trees and gorgeous fountains, just stepping onto the gold plated stairs of the entrance that opened up to a ridiculously lavish reception made him feel like he was transported into another world.

He really should have picked a different hotel.

The butler practically wrestled him for his meagre bag, even if he'd been a hundred per cent human, he still wouldn't have needed the help. It was just a tiny little bag that he'd packed for the sake of appearances. Ultimately, he let the butler have his way.

As soon as he gave his name, the receptionist hit the keys of her computer and lit up like a dragonball about to summon Shenron. She seemed really excited to have him, which was rather shocking, considering how shabby he felt he looked compared to all the other guests.

He sighed in relief when she finally handed over the swipe card for his room, even more so when the paperwork confirmed that the room had already been paid for in full. 'Thanks Bulma', he had an inkling that a room in this place would set him back a whole month's worth on his meagre intern salary.

"Enjoy The Champ's suite Sir," she'd beamed. "It's the very best, far superior to any Presidential Suite you'll find anywhere.'

But he wasn't really paying attention, he was too busy glancing at his watch, worried that Kata, no Videl – would come through the doors at any minute.

His gratitude leapt right out the window and splattered onto the floor when he stepped through the door. This was ridiculous. The conspicuous decadence of the hotel's decor didn't stop at the entrance and reception. The sheer size of his room...Why would Bulma book him such a monstrous room?

Grumbling, he tossed his bag, messed up the bedding on the giant bed and popped into the shower for a minute. He hadn't exactly taken it easy on his flight here, and the last thing he wanted was for Kata to catch him dishevelled and sweaty.

He was just about ready, bending over to tie his shoes when he received the call from reception. His guest had arrived.

...

Videl stood conspicuously in the lobby, hoping Gohan would be able to spot her right away before more people did. She cursed, running her hands down the consecutive charcoal tapered skirt. She was still in her formal clothes from the funeral.

Another guest passing by spotted her, her face breaking into awe the instant she recognised her. Luckily she was the shy kind, with just a smile, a small token of acknowledgement, she'd managed to appease her enough to make her blush and scurry along.

This was a bad idea.

She'd just shooed the manager away, the lanky man had come running when he'd heard that The Champ's daughter had just walked through their doors. How did she hope to keep her identity in a place where all the employees and half the guests knew her name?

Yeah, this was one of her worst ideas yet. She'd had no business suggesting meeting up with him in the first place. It's just...she was having such a miserable day, that funeral had been so sad and she'd felt so awful, and then the bank manager and the chief had given their speeches, thanking her...and the worst of it, Mrs Oshwele herself, that poor widow, thanking her for doing her best? Kami, it was more than she'd been able to bear!

Didn't any of them realize that there should never have been a funeral, that there should never have been a death in the first place? She should have been stronger, faster...anything, anything at all.

And when he'd sent her that message she'd just...she'd just wanted the company of someone who could make her forget who she was. Sure, she hardly knew him, but she'd had so much fun last night that she'd thought...she'd thought that just seeing his face again, just being in his company again...maybe it would make some of this pain go away, or at least, help her forget, even if it was just for a little while.

The large and lonely rooms of her home were certainly not helping, so here she was.

Urgh, damn it! She blinked rapidly, trying to keep the stinging in her eyes at bay. It would be appalling if she let her tears fall in a place like this. She had to keep it together or turn around and leave.

...

Gohan spotted her right away, even if her clothes were so different from last night's that he'd had to do a double take to confirm that it was the same person.

He could feel himself lighting up from just seeing her, his stride increasing, his face breaking into a smile, his heart...his heart plummeting when he saw the pained expression on her face.

'Wha...' the pang of worry was so strong it was all he could do not to give himself away by phasing before her.

His eyes were extremely sharp; he zoomed in on her face and cursed under his breath when he saw that her eyes were glistened with moisture.

"Kata, what's wrong?" he couldn't help himself. He did exactly what he was trying to restrain himself from doing. He just cut the gap between them with super-speed and appeared right in-front of her.

She gasped, obviously startled. "Nimbz, jeez! Where did you come from?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, you just startled me that's all." she attempted a smile.

Gohan frowned, maybe if he hadn't spent seven years seeing his mother try to smile through the pain of losing her husband, if he hadn't spent those years watching her as she tried to be strong for the sake of others, then that half hearted smile might have hoped to fool him.

He tipped her chin with his finger. "What's wrong?" he insisted, for this was not the face of the girl he'd met last night.

"It's nothing; I'm just coming from a funeral."

"Oh, I'm...I'm sorry. I-"

"Can we go someplace private to talk? I feel like everyone's looking at us."

...

He cursed Bulma again as he opened the door for her. How was he supposed to explain this extravagance? Even the wealthiest companies in the word wouldn't book their interns in the The Champ's Suite. It was ridiculous!

"Can I get you something to drink? Uh, I'm sure we can order room-service or something."

"Just some water, there's a pitcher over here. I'll help myself," she said and stood to do just that.

Gohan didn't know what to do, he thought of sitting down but he felt too nervous. He felt so useless in the face of this, he wanted to comfort her but he didn't even know who'd died! He really didn't know much about her at all. Just that she was a student and an only child.

Hours and hours of conversation and sure he knew a lot of trivia about her but in this moment, it wasn't helping him.

"I don't mean to pry or anything, but if you want to talk about it...was it a family member?"

She sat down with a grim face, glass of water in one hand. "No, I didn't even know him."

"Oh," now he really didn't know what to say. Why would she go to a funeral of someone she didn't even know? "Were you accompanying a friend?"

"No. I-" she seemed to debate over what to say for a few seconds before she continued. "It was someone; it was someone I couldn't save."

"Oh, from the bridge?" he couldn't think of anything else. She wasn't in the medical field, but in one of their very first conversations she'd told him that she'd been in Gold City as a volunteer, pulling out survivors etc. the day Golden Bridge had collapsed. Perhaps it was someone she got to a bit too late?

"No, not the bridge, though," she seemed to grimace. "Though there were lots of casualties that day." She shook her head as if to shake the memory off as took another sip of water.

Gohan said nothing, waiting patiently for her to continue.

"There was this bank robbery and I...these guys, these low-lives." Her face contorted into something that resembled fury. "They were debating over the lives of the hostages you know, 'cause they'd seen their faces. Anyway, before they started shooting, I was able to kick them around and knock them out. "

The confusion he felt must have been plain to see for she went ahead and clarified before he could ask the question.

"I'm sort of," she bit her lip as if she was debating with herself again. As if she was not certain of what to tell him. "I told you I'm a Martial Artist right? Well sometimes I volunteer to assist the police in apprehending troublesome criminals."

"Criminals with guns and explosives? Sounds dangerous," he said out loud.

"The world is a dangerous place," she shrugged and took a sip of her water. "I was so close to kicking this last guy in the head, but my foot was too slow, he pulled the trigger and the bullet went straight to the guard." She shook her head again, the fingers around the glass breaking into a small tremble. "If I'd been faster, if I'd been stronger I might have-"

"So you blame yourself, even though you did everything in your power."

"That's the point!" she exploded. "I train so hard every day, I push myself...I...but I just don't feel like I'm getting any stronger. I just," she sighed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come." She stood up. "The last thing I wanted was to ruin what's left of your Saturday, but look at me...I'm just-"

"Kata, I mean Videl don't go," he approached her. "You're not ruining anything, trust me. I'm glad you came, really and I'm glad you opened up to me. I practice a little Martial Arts myself remember? So I understand the frustrations of hitting a wall in training."

"Maybe you do, but it's not just some hobby for me you know? When I get called in to assist, its people's lives! Hitting a wall is not acceptable."

"I don't know what ties you have with the police, and under what circumstances they call you in but," he placed his hand on her back and steered her towards the unnecessarily long balcony. "If you're taking on bank robbers unarmed, then I'm guessing you must be really good to take that risk. I can show you a little trick that might come in handy should you need to buy a little time in a jam."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's go out onto the balcony and I'll show you," he offered his hand and a smile.

...

His skin had always been tough, so he wasn't too worried about getting burnt. But it wasn't the same for her. They'd been out here in the sun trying to do this for a while now; he just hoped she had the hang of it this time.

"Alright, now don't think about it too much. Where it's coming from is not important, just let the tingling you feel catch on to the light okay?"

"Um...okay, I think I feel it again." said Videl.

"Alright then, let's try this one more time. Bring your hands to the centre of your face like this," he took her hands and placed them in the right position. "Then spread out your fingers towards your eyes like this," he increased the spread of her fingers just a little and then stepped away.

"Okay, now just remember, project that tingle towards the light and...go!"

"Solar Flare!" she called out, and then stood momentarily stunned when it finally worked. A bright white light fired out and-

"I actually did it!" she cheered pumping a fist into the air, breaking into laughter like a kid being tickled. "I can't believe it!" she beamed and then she took him by complete surprise – she tackled him into a bone-crushing hug.

"Heheheh, yeah you did," he laughed nervously, rubbing his poor eyes which were momentarily blinded, unsure of how to reciprocate to the hug.

He had never been on the receiving end of this before, damn, it actually stung! He started to move his arms to embrace her, but ended up giving her a lame pat on the back instead. Lucky for him she pulled back almost immediately.

"What an amazing technique! I can't believe that I actually did it!"

"You did great, and just in time too. Look..." he pointed at the horizon, his eyes squinting as they tried to re-adjust to the light. "The sun was definitely on its last legs, and without the sun, or some other form of bright light, the Solar Flare is pretty useless."

She followed his finger, "Aww man! It really is going down. Too bad, I really wanted to try it one more time." she pouted.

"Not on me you don't," he waved off the idea. "Once was enough. Gah, my poor eyes." He laughed, rubbing them again.

"Serves you right! You did it to me three times! So we're almost even," she grinned.

"I was trying to teach you!" he said incredulously.

She laughed, leaning over the railing, her eyes travelling across the view below. She looked so happy, completely transformed from earlier, and knowing that he had something to do with that change, it was just a high on its own.

This is how she should be: happy and excited. The light in her eye shining with more sparkles than that dangerous dress she had on last night.

Once again he noted how tiny she was. She had taken off her shoes and suit jacket shortly after they began, choosing to remain in her skirt and blouse. The strangest training clothes he had ever seen to be sure, but neither of them could have known that they'd end up this way.

Her hair and nape were damp with sweat from all the time they'd spent in direct sunlight and Gohan could also see a small trickle running down her blouse. Thankfully with the sun going under, the evening was already starting to cool down.

"I still can't believe that such a thing is possible, you can't imagine how useful it will be."

"Yeah, it's a great defensive technique. I'm sure it will come in handy should you ever end up in a tight spot again."

"I'll practice it until I can do it in my sleep!"

"Yeah, heheh...just as long as you find another test subject." he said, as he moved to join her by the railing.

He looked down at what she was looking at – the vast grounds of the hotel. They were huge, and very well landscaped. They even had a small man made mini beach at the back. It was funny how she hadn't said a word about his room, or the hotel in general. She didn't even seem to have noticed all the extravagance around them.

"So?" she eyed him mischievously.

"Um?"

She slid her arms down the railing until they made contact with his. "So...now that you've shown me this trick, what are you going to do with me?"

"What do you mean?" he stared, dumbfounded.

"This is not really a Martial Arts technique from the Crane School is it?"

"Wha...what do you mean? If you watch the old tournament tapes, Tien of the Crane school clear-"

She laughed, interrupting him. "Oh come on, we both know that it's one of your dark powers Sir Dracula, so...now that I'm on to you-"

He laughed, shaking his head. "You're right," he whispered close to her ear. "Now that you know this ancient technique, passed down to all new vampires by their makers...hmmm...I guess I have no choice but to turn you into one of us."

"Hmm, just as long as you remember my warning, bite me and I'll-"

"Kick my ass?" he brought his face down to hers. "Don't worry. I haven't forgotten," he ran a finger down the side of her neck, grazing her with the tip of his nose. "Tempting, so very tempting...but I..." he pulled his nose back and smiled. "I think I like this better," he whispered, just before he brushed his lips against hers.

...

_**That's the chapter guys; please let us in on your thoughts on the story so far.**_

_**Just on the side:**_ I've had several queries about Valentines Day in the summer, and at first I was like err? When else would Vday be? But then of course it was pointed out that most readers are from the Northern Hemisphere and as such February is a cold month in their part of the world. That is as foreign to me as a cold Christmas XD. When I picture Vday, I see pool parties, foam parties, barbecue's and red skimpy skirts.

Plus *Cough* If you take the Map of the DB Universe and wrapped it around a globe (not that I've done that _ ) Satan City falls pretty close to the equator so it would be summer in Feb anyway.

Okaaaaaaaaaay, enough rambling :D


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**_Brought to you by Gue22_**

* * *

A light tingle lingered on her neck as soft lips pressed firmly against hers. Momentarily frozen, but not at all stunned, Videl could only hold her breath, her surprise shining through her eyes. Hesitantly, his lips parted in an attempt to move over her closed mouth, but just as her lips were readying themselves to respond to the kiss, it was already over.

Gohan had already pulled away.

"I...uh," he cleared his throat, uncomfortably? Videl wasn't too sure if she was reading him right but she had no intention of letting such a wonderful experience end in awkwardness.

She smiled, a teasing smile. "Well," her eyes twinkled. "I guess I get to remain human after all."

That seemed to do the trick, because any uncertainty she may or may not have read in his eyes was quickly replaced by a wide smile. Good thing she was already supported by the railing behind her because that dazzling smile was enough to sag the knees of even a tomboy like herself.

A gentle breeze drifted slowly from the man-made sea overlooking the balcony, cooling the hot pool of sweat pooling down her hairline. Videl frowned; if only she had a sweatband or a towel or something...damn, what a fine sight she must be - all blotchy and sweaty from the sun.

"Shall we go inside? It's time to cool down I think." suggested her host, as if reading her mind.

* * *

"Alright thanks, I won't be long," said Videl, grateful that he didn't seem to mind her request to use his shower. Now that the adrenalin was wearing off, she was simply too uncomfortable to remain in her current condition.

"The bathroom is-" Gohan started to direct her, but Videl was already well on her way. She knew exactly where the bathroom would be.

She pressed straight on, past the exquisitely hand-picked furniture that nestled comfortably amidst a boast of impressive paintings, sculptures and various other high priced ornaments. She hurriedly maneuvered herself past the grand Phoenician table stacked elaborately with its assortment of delicacies. From the ultra-fresh truffles made from pods harvested by the local staff, to the triple-tiered platter of almond-stuffed, and honey-scented pastries; none of the suite's offerings made any impression on her.

Videl had seen it all a million times before.

She was familiar with all the items on the hotel's amenities list. After all, all Satan Hotels were similar, and Kami knew she'd stayed in enough of them throughout the world while touring with her father.

Finally at her destination, she slipped into the in-suite bathroom, dumped her purse on a nearby armchair and locked the door behind her.

_Phew!_ She sighed, alone at last.

The previously meticulous funeral outfit was looking rather shabby. Her skirt was crinkled and creased on all sides while her blouse was damp with sweat. The hair that had been so neatly twisted and set that morning was now freely falling around her face, damp curls clinging to her skin. And the smooth skin beneath it, all clammy with blotches of red from all that impromptu time spent training under direct sunlight.

Despite her dishevelled appearance though, inside she was feeling rather elated and accomplished.

She made quick work of her clothes and let them drop to the floor before she stepped into the shower. She was quick about it too. Her nerve wouldn't allow her to relax and linger under the soothing sensation of the hot downpour for long. She had imposed on her host enough as it was.

Showered, dressed and feeling rather snug in the hotel's snow-white bathrobe, Videl felt as light and sprightly as a bubble. She stood before the mirror and ran a few brush strokes through her wet hair, then followed up by threading her fingers through just to set it so and so. Satisfied, she grabbed one of the small bottles of scented mist, sprayed lightly on her wrists before rubbing the scent along her neck.

Right, she thought. It was time to head out and face her _host._

On the subject of her _host_, she raised her hand tentatively and slowly brushed her finger along her lower lip in remembrance of that feather light kiss. The memory of that fleeting touch – firm, but oh so soft, the memory of it made the freshly showered and refreshed Videl flush.

A damn shame it ended before it even began, but that was her fault she supposed. Perhaps if she'd acted less like a statue while he'd kissed her, he might have kissed her for longer. _Oh well,_ she sighed. It was still a nice bonus, since she'd had no expectations of "that" kind of thing.

She didn't want to over-analyze the situation, but she couldn't help but wonder if that brief kiss had somehow been an indirect declaration about the nature of their relationship? Or perhaps a prelude to the expectations any man would have in finding himself alone in a hotel room with a woman?

_Hmm.._.her less than pleasant past experiences were telling her head to reign in those hopeful feelings, but her heart...

Wait a minute. Was she hopeful? Was she actually hoping that he had the wrong impression about her 'visit'? Was she actually hoping for more?

To her embarrassment, she found that she wanted to replay that butterfly kiss over and over again. In fact she wanted to march right out the bathroom door, wrap her arms around his neck as tightly and as snugly as her snow-white robe and pull his face down for more than just a fleeting sensation.

It was true then. She was definitely hoping for more.

But that was not to say she wasn't ecstatic with the small progress this relationship had made in just two days because she was. She really was, especially because she had every reason to believe that the mutual interest was genuine. Her host seemed to be genuinely into _her_ – just her. Not the saviour's daughter, not the crime fighter and certainly not the heiress. She was so thrilled that she wanted to stick her head out the hotel window and broadcast the entire experience to the whole world.

This intoxicated sense of jubilance was a foreign feeling, and clearly an utterly foolish one. She was meant to be a hard core crime-fighter, not some lame giddy air-brain. The foolishness had to stop now. She would allow herself none of the boisterous or foolish celebratory noises she was tempted to make. The most she would allow herself was a blab to her best friend.

She whipped out her phone and began to text.

The notifications on her screen alerted her that the blonde had called several times earlier in the day, leaving several voice messages and texts. Erasa wanted to know – no, demanded to know how last night had gone. But since she'd been at a funeral she hadn't picked up nor responded. She quickly tapped on her phone.

_Hey E, got your messages. I'm with Nimbz at his hotel right now so can't call. What's up?_

It didn't take long for her friend to respond in just the expected manner.

_:O His hotel? What a slut! You slept with him?_

Videl laughed, Erasa was such a character. For someone who was always pushing her in the direction of men so she could drop her V card, her response to the possibility of the fact sure was hypocritical.

_:P you fell for it, as expected. I never said I spent the night with him Gutter Girl. I had that funeral today, so I came by after. Guess what though?_

A little image of a pencil danced around her screen, indicating that her friend was typing.

_You slept with him?_

Videl rolled her eyes.

_Absolutely Not! I just met the guy! Jeez Erasa, you really have a one track mind don't you? No, he taught me something amazing! A Martial Arts technique I never would have thought existed. I swear Erasa, this guy...he's perfect!_

She wasn't surprised by the less than enthusiastic response.

_Martial Arts Technique? Sure, I'm leaping for joy. _

Videl could only smile at the sarcasm; she could very well picture her face as she said it too. It was so typically Erasa to be put off by the one thing that actually excited her. Ah well. But being the good friend that she was, she decided to drop her friend a bone just to keep her spirits up.

_And he kissed me XD, _she added, her face breaking into a smug smile.

She absolutely wasn't gloating. Not at all.

* * *

_I kissed her. I just...up and kissed her...wow!_ Gohan marvelled back at his bravery. Pride and excitement engulfed him, but relief was probably the most prominent of his emotions. If she had rejected or reproached him...things could have taken an awkward turn. But she had kissed him back! Or...at least he thought she'd kissed him back.

Hmm...okay so maybe she hadn't really done much by way of moving her lips or pressing back, but the important thing was that she had allowed him to press his lips against hers right? Yes. That's exactly right. That was the important thing. Hell, she'd even smiled at him afterwards. So he really did have the right to feel proud of himself, right?

Consumed with these thoughts, he continued to pace around the hotel room not knowing quite what to do with himself. He was trying not to let his ears listen in on her movements in the bathroom. On the rustle of fabric as it fell off her body, her tiny footsteps as she moved around and certainly not on the downpour of water as it fell against her naked wet skin...

Yeah, he closed his eyes, chasing that particular image away. It was best to occupy himself with other thoughts lest he begin to let his imagination get the best of him.

Luckily she was true to her word – she didn't take long at all. Less than fifteen minutes later she stepped out with damp her, a white fluffy robe tied expertly around a tiny little waist with her funeral attire all bunched up in her hands.

"Thanks a lot for letting me use your shower," she said, smiling. "I feel better than new." she beamed.

_Oh man_, thought Gohan nervously. This was really bad. She looked so cute and comfortable in this place, she really seemed to belong.

"I don't suppose you have any spare clothes in my size?" she asked jokingly.

"Mnn...I don't know," he said thoughtfully. "Something in your size? Let me check my bag. I might have accidentally packed something of Goten's," he said thoughtfully, just before he grinned.

"Goten as in your _ten_ year old brother?" she pursed, emphasis on the ten.

"Aha," he beamed at her, his eyes laughing even as he easily dodged the bunched up clothes that suddenly came flying at him.

"I'm not _that_ small," huffed Videl.

Gohan chuckled, raising his hands in a truce. "Seriously though, I don't think I have anything that would fit you. Maybe a t-shirt if you want." he offered more seriously.

"Don't worry about it," she dismissed. "This robe will do for now. I'll just call up Housekeeping - they have Express Laundry here. That's...if you don't mind me imposing on you for another two hours or so till my clothes are done?"

Though she looked playful when she said it, Gohan wouldn't allow her to think even for a second that she was anything but welcome for as long as she wished it. "You're not imposing!" he blurted. "You're not imposing! Really, I want to have you! I mean _glad_ to have you." He quickly added. "Stay, as long as you like. We could...um...order some food and have dinner while we wait for your clothes."

"I accept," she said immediately. "I'll dial Housekeeping right away so they can come for the clothes." she added, receiver already in hand to do just that.

He watched her curiously as she made the call. And not for the first time since her arrival, it struck him just how comfortable she seemed to be in this suite. First of all, she had been neither surprised nor impressed by the outrageous size or extravagance of the suite. Then, she'd breezed around, finding her way around like she'd done it a million times before, and just now she'd dialled the correct extension for Housekeeping without having to look it up. How was that possible? Had she stayed in this hotel before? And if she had, what did that say about her? Normal _students, _grad or otherwise, shouldn't be able to afford a place like this. Not unless their last name had a Briefs or an equivalent attached to it.

Come to think of it, he didn't really know her last name at all, did he?

He listened in as she gave instructions for her clothes. Her voice sure and commanding before she hung up. She then marched purposefully to the bedroom, pulling open the correct drawer out of an impressive eight to retrieve a laundry bag and paperwork.

There was no question in his mind. She had definitely been here before.

The whole business with the laundry was taken care of in a matter of minutes and before he knew it her dirty clothes had been taken away with the promise to have them cleaned and delivered in a mere two hours. It was impressive to say the least, though technically his own hand-washing abilities would have been able to best that two hours by a long shot. But of course he couldn't exactly offer.

He now found himself sitting shoulder to shoulder with her on the couch as they skimmed through the Room Service menu – another thing she seemed to be all too familiar with. She knew exactly what she wanted to order while he was still drooling over the vast and, dare he say, rather impressive-looking possibilities.

He would have been satisfied to order just about everything on the menu, but he knew he was faced with two distinct limitations. The first being the ridiculously wallet-breaking prices, and the second being...well...how would he explain his monstrous appetite? Things were going extremely well between them, but not _that_ well.

Besides, he would be getting a satisfying meal later once he flew back home to Mt. Paozu anyway. Nice as the suite was, he had no intentions of sleeping in it after she'd gone.

* * *

He fumbled around with the notes in his wallet. He really had no idea how much tip to give. He would have asked Videl for advice since it was obvious that she had experience in this hotel or perhaps a similar one, but...she had disappeared into the bedroom for some reason when the waiter came in to deliver their order.

It was twice now that she'd done that when someone came knocking. The first had been the guy from Housekeeping and now the waiter. It was obvious that she didn't want to be seen. Or was it that she didn't want to be seen with _him?_

Regardless, he couldn't dwell on her motives for now for the waiter was still waiting expectantly for a little something from him. Cringing on the inside, he settled on a twenty Zeni note and passed it, watching carefully for a reaction. Luckily, he seemed satisfied enough. Promptly he bowed and made his elegant exit. On his meager intern salary, a twenty was no laughing matter, but Bulma had already paid for everything else so he supposed spending twenty Zeni to buy the lovely Videl dinner was okay.

As soon as the door closed behind the waiter, said individual was suddenly back in view, munching on a fancy-looking carrot stick. She flashed him a conspiratory smile. "I just realized that I'm starving, haven't actually eaten all day." she said.

"Shall we?" he invited.

"Let's," she happily obliged.

* * *

Dinner turned out to be as cosy as it was gratifying. His guest had insisted on eating in the lounge since she was feeling tired, the effects of last night's drinking and lack of sleep, coupled with the long day she'd had finally wearing her down. She sat lazily with her tiny body curled comfortably into the couch. Gohan didn't mind, this way they were able to sit side by side, sharing the assortment of small dishes he had moved from the dining table to the coffee table.

"This much?" asked Gohan, scooping up a spoonful of orange-looking paste.

"Eh...a bit more," said Videl.

Gohan pressed deeper into the bowl and scooped up a bit more. "This much?"

"That should do it."

"You really like this stuff," he observed, dumping the whole lot of it on her side plate before passing it on.

"I really, really do," she beamed, taking the plate as she curled back into the couch, her feet tucked underneath her. She was quite the vision under the fluffy white of the robe, the fresh scent of soap pouring from her skin. He imagined the texture to be soft and warm, the desire to pet her taking him off guard.

Good thing she seemed oblivious to his wayward thoughts. Using a bread stick as a spoon, he watched her scoop up a bit of the paste before she bit the crispy bread.

"So basically," she picked up their conversation after swallowing, "He managed to get his way by driving her crazy?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Well, I say bravo to your brother for winning that battle against your mom. I have nothing against homeschooling, but from what you've told me about him, seems like he wasn't really suited for it."

"Heh heh...well Goten's always been very spirited," he chuckled, his eyes roaming over what was left of their order – not much he observed. Not counting the orange goop that Videl seemed to be so fond of. "What about you? Do you have any?"

"Siblings? Me? None."

"Just you and your parents?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It would have been nice to have a brother or sister, but my mom...well, she's no longer with us," she said tonelessly.

"I'm sorry to hear that Kata, I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Oh no!" she waved her hand in heated denial, placing her now empty plate back on the table. "It's not like she's dead or anything. My parents are just not together anymore."

"Oh, still I'm sorry. A divorce is-"

"Technically not divorced," she corrected with a small laugh, waving off his serious expression. "Their situation is a bit precarious actually." She seemed to take a pause as if seriously thinking on something before she added: "I really ought to pressure my dad into getting a proper divorce. Legalise everything in case he ever wishes to re-marry."

Gohan quirked his brow in obvious confusion.

"See, my mom, she kinda shaved her head and took a vow of silence."

He blinked, just once. "Huh?"

"I said so last night didn't I? That the only way I'd listen to your type of music was if I-"

"If you took a vow of silence and joined your mother in Monochus while she meditates her life away." He finished for her. "You were being serious?" His face was incredulous.

"I was. She joined the spiritual female order of Monochus after I was born. I've seen pictures of her, but...I never met her." She grinned at his obvious disbelief as she curled back into the corner.

"Uh,"

"It's kind of a strange situation, I know."

"Well, um..." he struggled to find something to say. Unless he was missing something, it sounded like her mother had abandoned her at birth, but she didn't seem upset about it at all. "Um...well...this friend of my dad's was a monk once, he gave it up though. He's happily married now, so maybe your mom might..."

"Meh..." Videl shrugged. "I don't really dwell on that idea. It doesn't really matter to me either way. You can't really miss what you never had to begin with. She was never really a mother to me, just a face in a picture."

"I guess." Gohan mused, it couldn't be all that simple, but he wasn't about to press the issue.

"Well...between you and me, I have my own personal theory about what happened to make her give it all up."

"You do?"

"Mmhm. I do. Wanna hear?" she enquired with a glint in her eye that he couldn't quite read.

"Tell me."

"Well," she scooted closer. It's simple if you think about it."

He waited.

"Child-birth."

Gohan blinked. _Wha...?_

"I think she must have been so traumatized by the intensely gruelling, excruciatingly long, and unbearably painful task of giving birth to me that the minute I was out, she swore never ever to do that again."

Gohan stared, unblinking.

"It's true. I can imagine it clearly. She must have made the decision then and there to swear off all men, especially my father who was probably no help at all during the experience. And if I know Dad, he was probably panicked like a caged bird, flailing and wailing around like the ordeal was his own." She sighed and shook her head. "Mother had to get away after that, the sacrifice of her hair and voice was well worth the alternative – staying on with us and risking another pregnancy. Can you blame her?" she regarded him seriously.

"Um..." Gohan just stared, speechless.

She burst out laughing then. "Your face is priceless!" she pointed at him.

Gohan straightened up and shook his head, "I..." he scratched his scalp, breaking into a grin. "You had me going there for a while, you're crazy."

"Nuh, it's not even my theory. It's my friend Erasa's. She made the whole thing up one day when I was a bit down to make me laugh. She always comes up with stuff like that."

"So I guess your mom is not with the Order of Monochus at all then? You were just teasing me."

"No. The part about her being with the Order is true." A frown suddenly overcame her cheerful face. "You know, I've overheard my dad saying that she didn't even hold me after I was born. Not even once."

"I'm really sorry Kata."

"Yeah, my poor dad. He dates and stuff – a lot," she frowned again. "But he never really settled down with anyone else you know? I think deep down, he's still foolishly hoping that my mom will come back one day. Poor Daddy."

"It must be hard for him."

"Ha! Don't feel too sorry for him, he has more than enough going on in his life to compensate for whatever sadness he may or may not be feeling about Mom."

"Well, it's kinda hard not to. I've seen a little of that kind of sadness. My parents were separated for seven years. They only got back together four years ago. It was really hard on my mom when my dad um...was um...gone."

"What? Seven years? And they got back together? Wow."

"Yeah."

"I guess in life, you never know," she rubbed her eyes and seemed to sink further into the corner of the couch.

She was really tired, he realized. It was in the way she rubbed under her eyes and held back her yawn. But mostly it was in her Ki.

"I think I'm about to fall asleep on your couch. I'm sorry to be such a bother."

"It's fine," he said quietly. "You can doze off if you want Kata. I don't mind."

"You know, that name is really starting to grow on me." she grinned at him.

"Name?"

"Kata. Even though you know my name, you still call me Kata. Have you noticed?" sleepy eyes twinkled at him.

"Heh heh," he scratched nervously at his scalp. "Yeah...I guess I'm just used to thinking about you as Kata. Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"I'm not complaining, I like hearing it. Somehow, it feels warm...intimate," she ended quietly.

She looked up at him then, her eyes soft and full. Though inexperienced in such matters, Gohan definitely felt a change in the air, the cosy dinner atmosphere was suddenly...charged.

They were already sitting so close, all it took was a slight turn of his shoulders, a small dip of his head and his face was looming over hers. "Kata," he said it again, softly, and for the second time that day, he kissed her.

Unlike the first time though, she didn't freeze or hesitate, she wound her arms around his neck and pulled him down until his body was pressed over hers, pinning her further into the cushions. Heart thrumming, he was vastly aware of their every infinitesimal movement. From the way her breath warmed his face with the first parting of her lips to the way his own lips responded shyly in a parting of their own.

Her tongue brushed against his, sending a hot current down his spine as both of her lips did something delicious with his bottom lip. He was strangely terrified that he'd give himself away, and his pride wanted to keep the knowledge that he was a novice at this a secret. So he followed her, mimicking slowly and cautiously at first, touch for touch, nip for nibble, savouring each caress of her lips and each massage of her tongue.

The smell of fresh shampoo assailed him, but there was something more subtle wafting teasingly from her skin. Honeysuckle and vanilla? He was in too much of a hazy fog to be sure. As the heat grew between them, the arms snaked around his neck became more insistent, tugging down on him with more pressure, but their faces were already as close as close can be so he didn't know how to answer to their urgency. Barely able to catch his breath, his lip caught gently between her teeth, he attempted to pull back to adjust his angle.

She looked up at him then, eyes soft and clouded, a small pant making her chest rise and fall.

"I should check on my clothes," she said hoarsely. "My dad will be expecting me."

* * *

Waves of happiness bounced from every fibre of him as he soared in heart and body above the dark clouds. He was sure of it now; there was definitely something tangible going on between him and Kata, err...Videl.

He could already imagine the sweet smells of tomorrow's brunch. This was turning out to be one hell of a weekend. Friday night had been unexpected but thrilling, and today, tonight had been simply amazing. And just to add icing to the cake, they had agreed to meet tomorrow for a lazy Sunday brunch. He really ought to ring up Lime and thank her for the best idea she had ever come up with in her life. Steering him towards the internet had just about changed his life!

Okay, so maybe he was getting ahead of himself a little bit here, but come on, he had the right to feel optimistic didn't he? Losing himself in a daring air-flip or two he told himself that yes, he definitely had just cause to be on the optimistic.

Head first he plunged down through the clouds as he reached the familiar mountain peaks near his home as he allowed himself to drift westwards towards the upcoming clearing.

Even though he knew this area better than the lines at the back of his hand, he stalled in the air a few feet from the ground glancing around stupidly just to make sure he wasn't lost. For how could he be in the right place if the spot that had been his house just a few hours ago now stood...well...kinda...empty-_ish._

"Wha..." Not for the first time that night he found himself blinking in utter confusion.

It was comforting to notice that both his parents and his brother also stood, albeit on the other side, of what used to be their house, staring equally as if not more stupidly than he.

"Goku you idiot!" his mother seemed to be the first to recover by bashing on her husband's chest.

"I'm sorry Chi," he hung his head lamely.

"Wha...what happened you guys?" he found his voice, at last.

"Humph! Someone set our house on fire, that's what!" she huffed.

"What?"

"And your genius father here tried to put it out with a giant Kamehameha! But as you can see, not a spec of..._anything_ is left. He incinerated the fire along with every spec of home we might have had left. Not even rubble," she grumbled.

"What do you mean _someone_ set the house on fire?" he exploded, a sense of foreboding creeping up to the surface. "You're sure Goten didn't burn down the kitchen again or something."

"Hey!" Goten huffed indignantly.

"Quite sure, thank you very much," said Chichi. "We have the culprit right here." She pointed down to a spot near Goten's feet. Adjusting his vision, Gohan noticed that it was being occupied by a person.

"Your father caught him while trying to make his pitiful escape."

Anger burst out from a place that had been filled with such unadulterated happiness just a few minutes ago that he found himself storming towards his parents. This kind of thing was just unacceptable. First the hotel last night, for he had no doubts now that the fire had been no accident and now his home? His home! Damnit!

"Easy Son," Goku touched his shoulder, "your mother has already overdone it with this guy."

And sure enough, even through the cover of night, Gohan could see the evidence his mother's work from the arsonist's battered face. He sighed, dropping his shoulders as he stared blankly at the unconscious body. "Did he say anything?"

"You think mom gave him a chance?" Goten just rolled his eyes.

Of course not, he realized dispiritedly.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Brought to you by Gue22

...

Two fires in two nights…

He wasn't exactly prone to harboring anger for long periods of time, but this morning he just couldn't help it. Last night had been yet another disastrous ending to what had been a brilliant day. And thanks to his parents, the situation was even worse this morning.

"That's it then, there's nothing we can do until he regains consciousness," he concluded his discussion with the Mt. Frypan Inspector.

"Unfortunately," said the Inspector. "I've stationed two men by the hospital, I'll inform you right away when he comes to. Hopefully it will be soon."

The Inspector was a thin dried out man with a stoic expression. His uniform seemed to hang off of him more than anything else. From appearances alone, the Inspector didn't inspire much confidence, but Gohan trusted his judgment. The thin man had proved quite knowledgeable about fire investigating protocols.

"I would really appreciate that Inspector. Thank you for everything you've done for us. I'll wait for your call," said Gohan

"Good day to you and your family." The Inspector pulled down his hat, revealing a head full of red wilting hair. He bowed politely and made his exit.

Gohan rubbed his temples and sighed as he made his way down the corridors of his grandpa's house. They'd had no choice but to move in with him last night, which was fine since there was more than enough room for all of them and then some.

His grandpa's house was much larger than their destroyed home. It made sense, he supposed, for his grandpa to have such a big house. It was supposed to carry the title of "palace" like its two predecessors.

He smiled faintly, recalling that once upon a time, a wizard had surrounded his grandpa's palace with a wealth of wild blazing fire. From the stories he'd been told, Master Roshi had tried to put it out with a Kamehameha only, but the attempt had ended in disaster, much like his dad's attempt last night. Like master, like student.

Ah well, he supposed it was part of his heritage, this business of destruction. From crackling fires that consumed palaces and mountains alike, to Ki-blasts that obliterated whole planets.

A boisterous laugh filled his ears as he came upon the dining room. His grandpa was sitting at the head of the large table happily laughing with luster at something Goten was saying.

Settled to his grandpa's left was his father. And he was typically inhaling all the food spread out before him.

To his father's left sat his mom and she was…well, she was just sitting there glaring at him with that same angry expression she'd been wearing since last night.

"Well?" She turned furious eyes on him.

Gohan shrugged, pulling out his own chair. He settled in and began to serve himself some food.

"Tell me everything Gohan. What did that low-life have to say during questioning?"

"He hasn't said anything mom, he's still unconscious. Did you really have to beat him up that much?"

"He set our house on fire!"

"I know, but," he rubbed at his temples. "Since Dad destroyed everything, including any trace of fire debris, the police can't even send an Inspector to investigate."

"Who cares about an investigation? We already have the culprit."

"I know Mom, but the charges won't stick. There is no evidence to prosecute him with."

"Of course he'll be prosecuted, then he'll be tossed into the palace dungeons down below." Chichi made a down movement with her thumb. "We'll add a healthy dose of daily flogging to his sentence, right Dad?"

Ox King coughed, beating on his chest with his large fist. "Now Chichi, you know the Kingdom doesn't use those dungeons anymore. There is a perfectly modern and humane prison in Frypan now." He blushed. "You can't go around saying that we flog our prisoners."

Chichi merely huffed. "That prison is too good for the likes of him. The dungeons can always be re-opened. I say we stuff him down below after his trial."

"Really Chichi," Ox King shook his head.

Gohan sighed, his mom was always like this. "You don't understand Mom. There will be no trial. There is no physical evidence left to corroborate the allegations that a fire ever existed. Not even a spec of fire debris remains; I double checked the scene myself this morning."

"So what? There are three eyewitnesses at this very table that saw the fire with their very own eyes."

"That's not going to hold in a court of law Mom, not unless you want Dad to give them a demonstration of the destructive power of his Kamehameha."

"Nonsense, this is Frypan and Dad's word is law. That man will go to prison one way or another. If not through the courts then definitely by King's edict, right Dad?"

A cringe and another uncomfortable cough was his grandpa's only response as he continued to busy himself with his food.

Gohan almost laughed as he felt sorry for his grandpa. He knew how hard he'd been trying to change the formidable imagine the world had of him. The poor man was doing his best to move his little Kingdom into a true constitutional monarchy.

"I still remember how you used to pass swift judgment to all offenders Papa. That's why everyone respected you."

"You mean feared Chichi, not respected. There's a difference," said the Ox King with a frown. "That's not how I do things today. We have a good judiciary system in place that handles these matters now."

"Humph! It's clearly deficient if what Gohan says is true. If they don't prosecute him, I'll personally make that edict."

"Chichi…"

"I mean it Dad! I want that man locked away in a dark, cold place for a long time for daring to destroy our home."

"Aww, don't sweat it Chi, I'm sure he feels pretty bad," Goku piped in. "You didn't exactly take it easy on the guy. It was wrong of him to burn the house, but I'll build you a new one no sweat."

"Stay out of this Goku, I'm not in a forgiving mood this morning."

"Aww, but Chi-"

"Son Goku-"

Gohan closed his eyes as his parents went at it. He could feel a headache coming on and it had everything to do with these damn fires.

It was bad enough that his name was probably gracing the suspect's list in the on-going investigation of the hotel fire, but even worse, it was his fault they'd lost their home along with all their meager possessions. Poor Goten had been distraught about his games and comic collection.

No, that's not why he was coming down with a headache. It was just that at the hotel, he'd lost a lot of original documents pertaining to the collapsed bridge case. Luckily, after the grueling sessions with the contesting team of experts from the implicated company, the prosecutor had taken copies of everything with him, but…since Gohan had inspected the scene of the bridge himself, some of the pertinent evidence he had personally photographed and bagged for analysis, the very same evidence he had used to put together his reports with, had been in his house…

He'd meant to forward them on to the prosecutor's offices on Monday, but now…

Then there was the small matter of his current case. He'd been diligent enough to take some geos with him for the weekend, wanting to look over them during the weekend. Technically, all employees were forbidden from leaving the premises with any such documents, but it was one of those rules that everyone broke all the time. Only this time…

Damn it! He narrowed his eyes at his food, rubbing the inner corners of his eyes as he tried to shut out the sounds of slurping coming from his father, snickers from his brother, and the non-stop banter about the King's edict still going on between his mother and grandpa.

If only he could go back to last night, back to Satan Hotel heaven where he'd held the lovely Kata in his arms.

…

It was hot out.

Too hot for such an early hour, but without a cloud in the sky to hinder it, the sun daringly blared down on all it could reach beneath it. And lounging away lazily on a fully reclined pool-chair was one Videl Satan, who just happened to be deliberately within its blazing reach.

She squirmed uncomfortably for a few minutes before she shot up to rub more sun-screen on the exposed flesh of her arms and legs. The intensity of the heat was beginning to make her skin bake.

Satisfied she'd covered all the spots, she pulled her sunglasses up and motioned with her hands for the pool attendant.

"Yes Ms Satan?" The attendant was at her side in an instant.

Videl didn't know him that well since she didn't spend nearly as much time in the pool as her father and his groupies, but according to Erasa, he was a cute little hottie with the perfect build. Regarding him beneath her sunglasses, she supposed he was handsome enough, well built as well. But the word "perfect" didn't spring to mind.

It just so happened that "perfect" was quickly beginning to associate itself with a certain _someone_.

"Please open up the shade for me."

"Right away Ms Satan." He bowed, pulling out a remote from his uniform pocket. A press of a button later and a colorful hexagonal canopy began to unfold and spread like the wings of a bat above her. It spread itself wide and large, killing the bright reflection of the pool water where it had been dancing on her skin.

The shade brought a much needed reprieve from the sun and Videl was able to lie back again. She rested restlessly under the shade for a few minutes before she was up again.

She checked her watch for the tenth time and sighed. Time was moving way too slowly for her this morning.

She'd been up at the crack of dawn feeling light and sprightly, only to feel disappointed that it was still so damn early. So to kill time she'd hit the training room and pushed her limits until she'd had no energy left. Coming out to the pool was just another way to kill time, but she had long since grown bored and restless.

She wanted to leave the house already, but she still had to wait two more hours before it was time to head out and meet Nimbz for brunch.

Two hours was too damn long!

She wanted to see him _now._ She wanted to see him so badly it was embarrassing. She'd barely slept as it was, tossing and turning instead. She'd obsessed about him, recalling all kinds of ridiculous things: the sound of his voice, the shape of his hands, the way his face transformed when he smiled. She liked everything about him, from the lonesome coil of hair that curved like a half-smile down his forehead to his habit of scratching at his scalp when he was shy or embarrassed.

Counting from the time of their first on-line conversation, she realized that she'd only known him for little over a week and yet...she really felt like she _knew_ him. But it wasn't enough, she wanted to know so much more, everything...

She wanted so badly to kiss him again that at the very thought of it, her stomach immediately tightened.

She fell back on the recliner, dark hair sprawling like the elongated leaves of a willow tree in the wind. She tried to think about her research paper on the Judiciary System, about the refinements she proposed to make in the training of new officers, but the more she tried to focus, the more it ran away from her. She hadn't been able to have one solid thought that didn't steer to _him_ since she'd left the hotel. Neither school nor work nor anything else for that matter was able to hold her attention.

"I hope he's thinking about me," she confided to the shade. "I hope he also tossed and turned in his bed all night _and_ all morning, consumed with thoughts of nothing but me." She sighed just before she laughed at herself, shaking her head.

"Keep dreaming Videl, not everyone has it as bad as you."

Giving up on playing the patient game, she sprang to her feet and decided not to wait for brunch at all. She wanted to see him _now_ and not a second later.

…

"What do you mean he checked out?" she frowned down at the receptionist.

"Uh," the receptionist gulped, turning back to her monitor. She punched in a few keys and looked back at her apologetically. "It…last night Ms Satan, the guest checked out and left the hotel last night."

"Are you sure you're looking at the records for the Champ's suite?"

"I-I'm sure Ms Satan, but let me verify just in case." She said nervously, picking up the receiver. "Hi Pi, sorry to disturb you at home, uh I have Ms Satan here." She looked up at Videl nervously. "No, no. No crisis err…we just wanted to verify that the guest in the Champ's suite checked out? You were on duty last night." A pause, "Uh-huh, ´kay, yes I understand," she nodded her head a few times. "Hold on let me ask," she looked up at Videl again. "Would you like to speak with him?" she asked hesitantly.

Videl shook her head. What was the point? It's not as if he was bound to change his story, or the facts just because they displeased her. And displeased she was.

"Okay, sorry again Pi. Bon' weekend, bye." She hung up. "Um...he says the guest checked out shortly after you left the hotel Ms Satan, I'm sorry."

"I see," she said flatly, though she didn't see at all. How could he just up and leave in the middle of the night? Where did he go? They had a date damn it! How could he just bail on her without so much as a word?

"Is there perhaps a message?" she asked hopefully.

The receptionist shook her head. "No Ms Satan, I'm sorry."

"Well, thank you for your time." she forced herself to smile politely.

"It was an honor to be of service Ms Satan."

She left the hotel wondering when she'd swallowed this prickling stone in her throat.

…

"Gohan hung up, glad to switch off his phone. Reaching into a drawer, he pulled out a charger and connected one end of the cord to the phone and the other to the wall socket. Tiredly, he watched the blue light as it steadily flashed, reflecting his mood.

This was truly a miserable morning.

He'd had no choice but to call up his boss after breakfast to break the news about the arson. After a lengthily conversation, they'd come to the conclusion that the two incidents had to be related somehow. They also suspected they were related to the bridge.

Unfortunately, he'd had to confess to the loss of some key evidence for the bridge case, not to mention those dubiously acquired geos for his other case. Boy, that hadn't ended well, not at all.

To his dismay, a long lecture about company protocol and rules and violations and disciplinary action and all kinds of things directly responsible for exacerbating his headache had ensued. Luckily his battery had started running out, beeping noisily as it demanded to be charged. And that had given him the perfect excuse to cut the conversation short, sparing him from the rest of the lecture.

He was grateful to leave his phone over there by the wall, quietly charging.

He glanced at his watch, there was still a little more than an hour before he was due to meet up with Kata.

He smiled, at least one aspect of his day would be good.

"Yo! Gohan, you coming?" His father's head floated in the crack of the door like a pineapple. "Your grandpa's taking us into the village." he announced.

"Can't Dad, I have to sort out some stuff for work, then I'm going to Satan City to meet up Videl for brunch."

"Videeeel huh?" Goku flashed him a knowing grin. "That's the girl you snuck out to see when that other fire started right?"

"It wasn't sneaking, but yeah…her."

"Uh-huh, is she the same girl you took to that fancy Satan hotel yesterday, or is that _another_ girl?" he grinned.

"Of course it's the same girl Dad, what are you saying?"

"Heheh, just checking. Just checking."

"How did you even know about the hotel?"

"Bulma, she called your mom."

"Jeez," he shook his head, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"So, you 'gonna marry her or what?"

"M-Marry her? I just met her!" he blurted.

"Oh okay," said Goku nonchalantly. "so it's just a sex thing? Like with Yamcha and his Lady friends?" he asked innocently.

Gohan turned green. "Dad, you should go. Mom and grandpa are waiting remember?"

"Oh yeah!" his eyes lit up. "Gotta go Son! Good luck sealing the deal." He made a thumbs-up and disappeared.

"I'm surrounded by perverts," Gohan muttered.

He closed the door and settled down on a swivel chair behind the pedestal desk at the corner of the study. He picked up the package that Trunks had flown in from West City to deliver earlier – a new CC laptop that he was much in-need off.

Trunks had also reiterated his mom's invitation to move the whole family to Capsule, but his mom wouldn't hear of it. Gohan was extremely thankful for that, there was never any peace at Capsule Corp. And besides, he already spent way too much time in a city cooped up in his cubicle for work. He had no desire to live in one too.

Luckily Mt. Frypan had all the feels of home. Just across the palace grounds was a lush forest with a flourishing wildlife population. The villages were all flushed with greenery, fresh air and shimmering lakes and rivers. He was quite content to be here.

Quickly he unwrapped and set up his new machine. He configured his emails and re-downloaded essential applications. The majority of his work programs would have to wait until tomorrow though, since they had to be downloaded directly from the main server at the office with special permission from the IT department.

Once he had the basics, he typed in the credentials for his COMET. He wanted to pull out a few essential files since it would surely be a circus tomorrow and he needed to prepare.

To his shock, he couldn't log in.

_Access denied._

_What the hell?_ He tried again.

_Access denied._

"Urgh! Come on!" he yelled at his computer. What in the world was going on?

_Access Denied._

"Damn it!" he cursed, shutting down the application.

What was he supposed to do now? Even his back-up discs had been destroyed in that damn fire. All he had to work with was the information in the server.

"Honestly, of all the times," he sulked pitifully.

He really didn't know what to do with himself now, he couldn't work, and it was still too early to meet up with Kata. Man, why had they decided on brunch of all things? Why not breakfast? Breakfast was good, plus it had the added advantage of coming before brunch. If it were breakfast, he would have been with Kata by now, laughing, talking, kissing…

He flushed. Okay so maybe he couldn't see her yet, but there was no rule that said he couldn't talk to her right?

"Heheh," he grinned happily, pushing out his chair to reach for his phone, until he remembered...

"Great Gohan, you never even took the time to ask for her number. Great going," he muttered unhappily. "Plan B then," he settled back in the chair and opened his internet browser. He began to type:

He logged into his account, praying that by some stroke of light, Kata'd be on.

And as it turns out, luck was with him.

With a foolish grin planted on his face, he was about to start typing when:

Katagirl says: -_- You have no shame!

He blinked, huh?

NimbusRider says: I don't understand. What did I do?

Katagirl says: I can't believe you would ask that. You checked out and left the hotel without saying anything.

Gohan cringed, she wasn't supposed to know that!

NimbusRider says: You went to the hotel already? I thought we were meeting for brunch?

Katagirl says: I wanted to see you, I didn't want to wait.

He would have soared at that confession at any other time, except that…well, her wanting to see him had put him in a bit of a situation.

Still, he couldn't help feeling just a _little_ light hearted. _Teh heh_…she'd wanted to see him just as badly as he'd wanted to see her.

Fires be damned, this was a good morning after all.

NimbusRider says: I'm sorry, something came up and I had to go home.

Katagirl says: Why didn't you leave a message for me at the hotel? You knew I was going to meet you there at the agreed time. I can't believe you stood me up!

Gohan stared at the accusation, completely dumbfounded. What the hell? What was she saying? The entire planet could take a blast from Buu and he'd still not stand her up.

NimbusRider says: I'm not standing you up!

Katagirl says: Oh really? Then how do you plan to get from Mt. Frypan to Satan City in half an hour? Teleport?

Gohan froze in horror.

_Mt. Frypan? Did she just say Mt. Frypan? How on earth does she know?_

He paled, remembering…this was Ms 'I traced your IP to a remote location in Mt. Paozu.'

Kami! This girl, just who the hell was she? Normal people didn't just randomly sit around surrounded by tracing equipment!

_Kami, what a mess. _

If he'd only been patient, if he'd only curbed his immediate desire to talk to her and not logged-in, she wouldn't have known where he'd been. He would have flown leisurely to Satan City and arrived right on time to dispel whatever doubts she'd had about his showing-up.

Now he really looked bad.

There was no reasonable explanation he could give to account for travelling from Mt. Frypan to Satan City in half an hour.

None.

Unless he was ready to make the whole "I'm a half-alien with super-powers speech." Which he wasn't.

But, there had to be a way to get out of this.

_Think!_

Katagirl says: Nothing to say? I guess I misjudged you. Have a nice life _Gohan_.

His fingers were gliding over the keyboard before he'd even had the chance to think about what he wanted to say.

NimbusRider says: WAIT! Please wait.

_Damn it! Think, think stupid brain._

NimbusRider says: I promise I would never stand you up. Just hear me out. Please?

He waited.

NimbusRider says: Please?

This was ridiculous! Just ridiculous, things couldn't end abruptly like this when he hadn't even done anything wrong. They couldn't!

NimbusRider says: Kata? Are you still there?

His heart was thumping so hard he was scared it might just jump out of his mouth.

What would he do if she didn't let him explain? If she just logged out of his life without a trace? He coudn't even go chasing after her. He didn't even know where to find her.

NimbusRider say: Please

Katagirl says: I'm listening.

His relief was paramount, he hadn't even realized he'd been holding his breath.

NimbusRider says: I didn't have your phone number, otherwise I would have called.

NimbusRider says: So I asked my friend, well a friend of my Dad's to stand in my place.

He was typing so fast, the computer had trouble keeping up with his speed.

NimbusRider says: He was going to call me and let me speak to you personally on the phone so I could explain and apologise.

NimbusRider says: I would never just not show up. I wouldn't do that, especially not to you. I really like you.

Katagirl says: You expect me to believe that?

He cringed as he typed the bold faced lie.

NimbusRider says: It's the truth.

Katagirl says: Fine. I'll just go back to the hotel and wait for your friend to show up and call you. They should be on their way right? Since it's T minus 15 right now.

Katagirl says: Lucky for you I don't live far.

In the ensuing silence of his grandpa's private study, the sound of dread filled Gohan's eardrums. _Wha…_

She couldn't be serious right?

_Katagirl is off-line._

"No!" he yelled to the green cursor blinking all by its lonesome on the screen.

He had a dreadful feeling that that would be him in the next fifteen minutes.

…

She was a fool to be doing this, but she was doing it anyway because her heart was repulsed by the idea of ending things so unceremoniously. This way she could prove it to herself that he was openly lying; at least then she wouldn't look back on her decision with regret.

She had no intention of pursuing any kind of relationship with an untrustworthy liar who was prone to sneaking out of hotels at night to go only Kami knew where. Just thinking of the humiliation she would have felt, arriving at the hotel to pick him out all starry eyed only to wait, and wait, and wait with no word…

Just thinking about it made her want to kick something.

So she sat patiently in the lobby instead, periodically glancing at the large clock behind the reception area, and waited. And not for the first time that day, Videl felt as though time itself was moving at a snail's pace to deliberately torture her.

_T minus five._

She picked up one of the travel magazines on display and began to flip through it absent mindedly.

"Are you Videl?"

Her heart jumped. She looked up to find herself staring into bored blue eyes of a rather good-looking blonde lady in a comfortable pair of jeans and blouse.

"Uh…yes?"

"18," said the blonde.

"Excuse me?"

"My name, it's 18."

Videl blinked.

"My father was a dull man, don't ask." the woman offered impassively.

Videl just stared.

"You _are_ Videl no? You're waiting for Gohan?"

"Um…yes." she said hoarsely, there was something rather unsettling about those cold blue eyes.

"He's not coming," she said bluntly. "Unfortunately my husband is acquainted with Gohan's family, and since he couldn't get here fast enough, I had to pick up the slack."

"Oh," said Videl, a little shamefaced.

"You're quite the insensitive one aren't you?"

"Excuse me?"

"His home burns down in the middle of the night, and you don't even ask after him," she said dispassionately.

"His home w-what?" she stammered.

"Here," the blonde passed her a piece of paper. "That's his number. Use it, don't use it. I don't really care."

Videl grabbed the piece of paper and stared down on neatly written numbers. The handwriting was so clear and uniform, it almost looked mechanical. She stared at it, trying to resolve her feelings on the matter.

So he wasn't lying. He had been telling the truth. Fifteen minutes was too short a time to scam her with an imposter, not that she thought she was important enough in his eyes to go to all the trouble of scamming her, but...at least he wasn't lying.

She breathed out a sigh of relief.

She looked up from the paper to offer her thanks to the rather rude woman, but…she was already gone.

…

"You didn't have to come all the way out here," Gohan wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug.

"Are you kidding me?" she pulled back. "I wouldn't miss this chance to strut my stuff in the royal palace."

Gohan chuckled. "And here I was thinking you'd come here to offer me moral support."

"Sure I did," she waved him off. "I hugged you, didn't I? Now, stop being such a wuss and show me where your grandpa's stuffed all that legendary treasure," she grinned.

"Very funny Lime."

"Just trying to cheer you up homeless-boy," she stood on tip-toes and pinched his cheeks.

"Sure, rub it in."

"That's what best-friends are for."

"Yeah right," he said. Plopping himself down on his bed. It wasn't exactly like his old bedroom, but it did have a number of personal things he'd left behind on his many visits as a child. It was comforting to have some familiar personal items in the face of the loss.

Lime settled herself comfortably on the corner of a small desk laden with many of his old study notes. With her legs dangling a few feet from the floor, she regarded him keenly. "Now," she said, "What's really going on around here? I know it must have been one hell of a blow, but the Son Gohan I know wouldn't be moping around just because his house burnt down. Now Spill, I'm all ears."

Gohan sat up from the bed, scooting close to her. "Hmm, you're right. With your hair pulled up that tightly, you're definitely all ears elf-girl." He pulled at the tip of both ears.

Lime slapped off his hands. "I've told you a hundred times Gohan, my ears are not pointy!" she pouted, folding her arms across her chest in a childish huff.

He laughed. "Sure they are, and I'll bet Stan will agree if you make the mistake of showing them off on Saturday night." He threw himself back on the bed, arms scissored behind his head. "Still have that date?"

"Hmph! Say whatever you want, but come Saturday night and Stan will be all over this. I'll even get him to start on my ears, they're super sensitive to the right kind of nibble you know?" she winked.

"Lime, don't start," he flushed.

"_You_ brought him up," she pointed. "Now, stop trying to steer the conversation away from the matter at hand. Tell Auntie Lime what's bugging her favorite ape-boy. And don't say nothing, because I'll bug you until your ears bleed."

"Don't I know it," he muttered under his breath. "Fine," he relented. "I took your advice and registered for on-line dating."

"You're shitting me!"

"Language Lime, and no I'm not. I did it, and I met someone. As in met on-line and _twice_ in person."

A fly could have done hoops in her mouth, the way her jaw dropped. "Say what? I turn my back for one week and you're already romancing some internet chick?"

"It was your idea, why do you look so shocked?"

"I don't know, I thought the horror of internet dating would man you up enough to finally ask the lovely Kirsty out."

Gohan shot up into a sitting position. "What? Lime! I thought you were giving me sincere advice, so I took it!"

A sheepish and not so apologetic grin spread across her face. "Come on, you needed a nudge, so I gave you one."

Gohan shook his head. "I can't believe you, but still I'm grateful 'cause it worked out."

"Worked out?" she frowned. "Listen my adorably clueless friend, that internet girl is clearly suspicious. How come she agreed to meet with you so suddenly? She has an angle, I'm sure of it. She could be a criminal or a gold digger or-"

"Hang on," he cut her off, standing up to reach into his pocket. "My phone's vibrating," he pulled it out. "Please Kami, let this be her."

Lime rolled her eyes.

"Hello?" he picked up, his voice hesitant and hopeful.

"_Uh, Hi," _came the familiar voice.

_Yes!_ He shot up his arm in triumph. He'd been waiting for this call for so long that…urgh, he was just so relieved.

"_It's me. I got your number from 18."_

"18?" he blurted in horror.

"_Yeah, she said her husband couldn't make it so she came in his place?"_

_Damn that Yamcha!_ If he couldn't make it he should have said so, not send 18 of all people! That woman didn't even know the definition of delicate. She'd probably done more harm than good.

"_Are you there?"_

"Yeah, I'm here." His hand threaded through his hair as he paced the small space of his room. "I'm glad you called. I was worried I'd never hear from you again, you logged off so suddenly."

"_I just jumped to all the wrong conclusions. Sorry."_

"It's okay, I'm just happy you called me."

"You said that already, what a mushy guy!" Lime blurted, shaking her head at him in disapproval.

Gohan stared at her in horror. He'd already forgotten about her. He covered the phone with his hand.

"Shush Lime!" he whispered rather harshly.

The brunette only stuck out her tongue at him.

"_What was that?"_

"Sorry, my brother was looking for something. He's gone now." He spoke with his eyes glaring meaningfully at his best friend.

She merely shrugged, picking up a stray magazine before she plopped herself on his spot on the bed.

Gohan growled at her, but of course, she ignored him.

"_What was that?"_

"Nothing, just a noise." He glanced at his bed, but Lime was busily feigning interest in some scrap of paper she'd picked off his desk.

"_Oh okay, um…18 said something about your house burning down?"_

"Uh yeah, that's why I had to leave in such a hurry last night," he lied yet again, walking across to the window. He spoke with his eyes focused on a spot of trimmed bushes in the garden. "I got home too late. We couldn't salvage anything though, it's all gone."

"_I'm so sorry. Did everyone come out okay? Your family?"_

"We're all fine. Luckily there was no one in the house at the time."

"_Jeez, that's just awful. I'm so sorry about your home, is there anything I can do? Is there anything you need?"_

_You. To see you._

But he couldn't exactly say that now could he? Just thinking about all the ways he'd have to fake the logistics was enough to give him a headache.

He turned from the window, leaning his weight against the wall. A spot on his shoe was suddenly so interesting. "It will be tough for a while, but we'll rebuild. We're staying with my grandpa for the moment and he has lots of room for all of us."

"_Is that why you're in Frypan? Is that where your grandfather lives?"_

"Yeah,"

"_Wow. You're really a mountain person aren't you? Mt. Paozu and now Mt. Frypan?"_

Gohan chuckled, even though he couldn't see her face, he could very well hear the smile in her voice. "Guilty, on both counts of Mountain Ma'am."

She laughed, _"Don't be too quick to confess. I just might be tempted to come over there and arrest you. The guilty should be put away you know."_

"I agree. Which is why I promise not to resist arrest," he grinned.

"_Oh? Even if my cuffs are made out of silver?"_

"What a cruel woman," he smiled slyly. "If you leave the stake behind, I promise to surrender myself to you peacefully."

Out of nowhere, Lime made a gagging sound on the bed, and Gohan decided he'd had just about enough of his friend's interruptions.

Tucking the phone between his cheek and ear, Gohan slipped an arm under Lime's waist and hoisted her up.

"Hey! Put me down you monkey!"

Half a second later he deposited her out the room, swiftly locking the door behind him.

"_Did I hear something?" _

"Nope!"

"_Good. 'Cause I'm looking forward to your reformation therapy. I`ll rehabilitate at least one count of mountain out of you."_

Gohan laughed, "Spoken like a true Criminalist. I have to warn you though, we mountain dwellers are known to be heavily embedded in our ways."

"_Doubting me?"_

"No," he chuckled. "Just a heads-up, so you'll be prepared."

"I'll consider myself forewarned then. Oh, and since we're on the subject of mountains, what are you going to do about work?"

Gohan blinked. "About work?"

"_Yes. I'm looking at the map right now, thought I'd check out how far Mt. Frypan is. It's far. It's a four hour commute each way from Mt. Frypan to Blue City. Have you found a place to live yet?"_

Gohan cringed. Damn it! Why was she so nosy? Why was she always thinking ahead? Making calculations and outrageous conclusions? Why was she always putting him on the spot?

Now he'd have to lie again and he was so tired of lying.

"I don't know. With everything going on, I hadn't really thought about it." That much wasn't a lie, at least.

"_Of course you haven't, you've been through a lot. Maybe one of your colleagues would be willing to put you up for a few nights, while you looked for something of your own."_

"That sounds like a good idea. It'll help me out a lot."

"I'm glad, I hate feeling useless like this. You're so far away that I can't even be there for you. I wish there was something more I could do to help."

"Please don't worry yourself Kata, I'm okay. Really."

"If you say so…oh wait! I have a great idea!"

He tensed up, somehow he had a bad feeling about whatever it is she was scheming. "Uh…"

"Blue City is not that far from me. And since I'm not really busy tomorrow, how about I drive down to meet you during your lunch break or something? That way I can help you look for an apartment!"

Dread.

"I…uh…"

"My dad has a great estate agent, don't worry you won't even have to pay him. He can poke around and arrange for a few places we can visit."

"Um,"

"_Is that…not good?"_

"No, it's just that…I…uh,"

"_Oh, sorry. I guess I got a little carried away, poking my nose into your business like some nagging wife."_

"No! That's not it at all. If you really don't mind coming all the way to Blue City, then I…l'd love to check out some apartments."

_What am I saying? I don't even need an apartment!_

"_Are you sure?"_ she sounded skeptical, that suspicious streak he was growing accustomed to back in full swing.

"I'm positive. Please, come. It won't be the same thing but this will also give us a chance to make up for brunch."

"_Okay, if you're sure."_

"I'm sure."

"_Great then. I'll contact the agent and start poking around then," she laughed._

"Please do. I'm an avid fan of all kinds of poking. Poke as much as you want."

She burst out laughing, _"I'll just bet you are. Well then, I'll let you know about tomorrow when I have the details. This is good-bye mountain-dweller."_

"Oh boy, I really set myself up for that one didn't I?" he couldn't help his grin.

"_And I won't let you forget it."_

…

_That's the chapter guys. Please leave a comment and let the team know your thoughts so far. _


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_Brought to you by Gue22 and ShadowMajin_

…

_For Vader, just because he smiled _

…

Luckily he had no problems logging into his COMET at his workstation. With the steady hum of the air ventilator in the background and a steaming cup of coffee by his side, Gohan pulled his files from the bridge case and got to work.

The office was quiet at this early hour. As the lone occupant of the large open-plan layout, there was no senseless office chatter, no ringing telephones, no whirring copiers or competing degrees of hard keystrokes across the cubicles to distract him. He was focused and determined, as he sifted through the long contents of reports.

It would be an hour before he looked away from his screen, his face set in a scowl. There was no working around it, without that evidence, his report was as good as useless.

_Damn it! What should I do? What should I do? Think!_

The way he saw it, even a first year student with little or no experience would be able to plug holes in it.

_What should I do?_ He chewed the back of his pencil, his eyes narrowed as he tried to think of a possible loop-hole. Damn it! It was already too late to fly over to the site to collect new evidence. Re-construction had begun at the bridge and there was no way anything he found now would be credible. They would argue contamination and have the whole thing thrown out of court. He would. He just had to think of something, and think fast.

_If these guys get away with this, it will be my fault. _

"Damn dirty bastards, burning down my home," he muttered, reaching for his forgotten mug of coffee. "Crap, now it's cold."

Just as he was thinking about getting up to make a new one, the familiar Ki of one Ms Kirsty D. Leigh reached him long before the clank of her heels could reach his ears. He could feel himself blushing as the familiar scent of her fragrance tickled at his nostrils. He braced himself before he looked up, and sure enough the sight that greeted him as she swayed, clad in a dark tapered skirt and a ruffled beige blouse did not disappoint. She was breathtaking, as usual.

"Thought I'd find you here this morning," were the first words out of that beautiful mouth. "Grasping at straws are we?" she stared meaningfully at all the work he had in front of him.

Gohan gulped, so she knew, about his… mess-up. _Just great._

"I have something to show you, come to my station." she commanded, passing past his desk without sparing him another look.

Gohan _did_ trip in his flustered and far from graceful haste to follow after her. He hovered around her work-station, waiting patiently, albeit nervously as she hung her purse, pulled files from a briefcase, arranging them neatly on her desk and finally, as she settled in behind her chair, swiveling to the side as she logged into her computer.

He still waited, as quietly as a thief.

"We all work from home, but it was stupid to take the evidence with you," she spoke while her fingers flew over the keyboard.

Gohan shuffled his feet, what could he say? He was in the wrong and he knew it, it was best to shut-up and let her get this lecture out of her system. Man, what he wouldn't give to be human, 'cause then he'd feel no shame in venting out his frustration on that arsonist after he woke up. It was his fault that his competence had shrunk in Kirsty's eyes.

"I had a word with an acquaintance from Synergy." she said conversationally. "As you know, they were privately recruited by the insurance companies involved to conduct their own investigation in order to protect their interests." The look she gave him said _'If you didn't know that, then you're an even bigger chump that I'd thought.'_

"Um yes, I'm aware." he croaked.

"Good. I've persuaded them to turn over their evidence to us since they really have no use for it,"

He gaped, unable to believe what he was hearing. How the hell did she manage to pull that off?

"_With_ the promise to loan out our most promising intern for a spell."

Now he was confused.

"They heard about your knack for solving cold cases. They have something that's stumped them for months and need fresh eyes. Luckily they trust a little in my judgment, so when I assured them you'd deliver, they believed me."

Gohan just stared; this woman… she'd accomplished all that on a Sunday? He could do absolutely nothing as the admiration he already held for her climbed to unimaginable heights.

"I also took the liberty to speak with the prosecutor. He will postpone for a while to give us time to compose ourselves. Here," she pushed a folder towards him. "This is a summary of what Synergy has. Go through it this morning, we'll head over to their lab around lunch time to verify the evidence and run some tests of our own."

Gohan took the folder, pulling out the contents one by one. He gave them each a quick scan, just to have an idea of what he'd have to work with. He could feel his blood heating up at the contents. He really didn't know what to say, this was better than the miracle he'd hoped for. With this, all was not lost, with this… he grinned at the piece of paper, he couldn't help it, this was great. This woman… he literally had to hold himself back from hoisting her out of that chair and spinning her round and round in glee. He was just that happy.

"Well?" she pushed up the rim of her glasses and stared at him.

He cleared his throat, "Um… I don't know what to say, thank you Kirsty. I really appreciate this."

With a stale expression, the structural engineer regarded him coolly. "Don't look so pleased Son, it's nothing personal. As one of the supervisors, it's my job to fix you interns' cock-ups."

Gohan cringed, a hot wave of embarrassment flushing him on the spot. He honestly didn't know where to look.

"That's it then," she turned back to her screen. "They'll be calling you in upstairs when they arrive. You're in for an ear-full so be prepared."

Again, he didn't know what to say. "Alright, I'll try to be." he settled for that, but his voice betrayed his nervousness.

The fires may not be his fault, but if he hadn't breached the rules, the situation wouldn't be nearly as serious. There was nothing he could say in his defense with regards to that, luckily thanks to Kirsty he was still able to fix it. He would just have to apologize for the huge inconvenience to the organization and the prosecution and hope that his hard work in the past would be enough to let him get off with just a slap on his wrist. He really didn't want to lose this internship.

"Don't make that pitiful face, they're not stupid enough to let a good asset slip through their fingers. You'll be chewed-up, _deservedly so_," she pursed. "But, you'll be fine. Now get out of my face, you have work to do."

"Um, right, right." He clutched the folder and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Son,"

"Uh, yes?" he halted, turning back nervously as he braced himself for another verbal punch.

"About your home, I know it must be hard."

_Eh?_

"I have a decent couch in my apartment; you're welcome to use it for a while."

And just like that, the folder from Synergy fell right through his hands, the contents spilling and scattering all over the place.

…

Pounding, that's what it was: intense pounding in his head.

He opened his eyes immediately fixing to cower at an invisible enemy. The last thing he remembered was trying to flee the scene when some unnaturally strong lady beast had come out of nowhere, laying it on him so hard and so fast he hadn't been able to raise one hand in self defence. And Kami knew he was no chump, he'd made it all the way into the finals of some small-time Martial Arts tournaments in his day, he definitely knew how to handle himself. But that lady beast… he shuddered just thinking about it, his body wanting to cave in on itself at the memory of that ordeal.

He was in the hospital he realized after a quick scan of his surroundings. The room was quiet and deserted. _Good._

This was his chance to make up for lost time. The young intern was taken care of, and since he was the primary expert there was no need to take care of anyone else from his organization. All that remained was the prosecutor and whatever evidence he might have stashed in his office or house. He couldn't afford to get stalled here, not before he'd proved himself on this job.

He swung his legs from the bed and touched the cold tiled floor with his bare feet. It was only then he realized that several cords were moving with him. Quickly, he ripped out the IV from his arm, wondering momentarily what the purpose of the cord coming from his chest area was.

That chest area - boy did it hurt. Worse than the pounding in his head, and definitely worse than the time he'd gotten pinned trying to help that bus of old citizens years ago.

He squinted at the shooting pain down his back as he moved, feeling a little light headed, but he'd been in worse conditions. _Ok, here goes nothing_, he braced himself as he delicately removed the patch from his chest.

_**Beeeeep!**_

The monitor betrayed him with a loud noise and in a panic he landed a quick karate chop, cracking and shutting up the noisy machine. But man, that just about zapped every ounce of energy he had left.

_Shit_, he saw blood seeping from his foot. Not knowing what to use, he ripped part of the sheet from the bed and wrapped it quickly around the wound. Hobbling out of the room was not as easy as he'd anticipated, but he was getting out of this place no matter what.

Suddenly he heard a mad rush of footsteps coming from outside his door. He froze; what to do? Where to hide? On instinct he fell into a fighting stance, ready to put to sleep any nurse or doctor intent on getting in his way.

To his horror, when the door burst open, the lady beast from last night stood in the threshold looking even more ferocious. At her side were two men dressed in uniform.

_Oh fuck._

…

Oh, this was priceless, this was too priceless! Gohan grinned as his fingers flew over his keyboard. To think of the time he'd wasted stressing about it last night and this morning. Heh heh… his report would be even more damaging to those unscrupulous hinge guys at this rate, the findings from the preliminary work of the Synergy team were golden. He was extremely lucky to have these at his fingertips, they were almost as good as his.

_Almost, heh_

Man, he could just kiss Kirsty for…

_No!_ he recoiled in horror, he did not just think that! How could he even think about another woman when he had Kata? This morning too, when she'd walked into the office, he'd revelled in that sweet fragrance that always graced the office when she was around, he'd admired how beautiful she'd looked in her outfit. What was wrong with him? Kata was unrivalled in his eyes and yet, he still found Kirsty that normal? Or was he just as bad as Lime's ex?

He cringed, just thinking about that two-timing loser.

_No! I would never two-time Kata or Kirsty! _

Having lost his earlier concentration, he was now made aware of the background noise that filled the office. Worriedly, he wondered about his fate. He'd been hard at work for hours now and they'd still not called him in upstairs. Not that he was in a hurry to get chewed-out, but it would have been nice to get it over and done with so he'd stop stressing.

Amongst the ringing phones, the shuffle of movement and the hum of traffic outside, a distinct wolf-whistle rang annoyingly in his ears. He knew exactly where it was coming from. He turned around, not surprised to find the majority of his fellow interns gathered in Anre's cubicle in the corner. They were crowded behind him, staring at whatever Anre had open on his screen. There was much whistling, snickering and laughing to be heard– clearly another celebrity gawking session. It seemed to be a regular Monday ritual for them.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" a voice he didn't recognize exclaimed excitedly.

"Aww man, I live in the wrong city!" now_ that _voice he knew. It belonged to the hyper Anre. "Just look at her friend's cleavage in that golden dress, not fair." he complained. "Satan City's clearly hogging all the hotties."

"Give it a rest Anre, like you could afford Reserves even if you lived in Satan City, keep dreaming chump!" they laughed at him.

_Reserves?_ Gohan wondered why the name sounded faintly familiar. Ah well, if it was the gathering place of the rich and famous in Satan City, he'd probably overheard Anre and co. mention it before.

"Oh, sweet Kami! Check-out her behind in this pic! Zoom in idiot!" another voice he recognized urged. Gohan was surprised; Mosa had always given him the impression of being somewhat shy.

"Guys, we really ought to stop being so lame and make a plan to terrorize Satan City one of these weekends,"

A snicker, "Oh yes Ms Satan, arrest me please."

"Man the Champ sure has it all ey? If I had a daughter as hot as that, I'd lock her up and throw away the key!"

"Idiot! What does the Champ care if his daughter's hot? It's not like he can bang her."

"Anre, you're so nasty man, shut your mouth and enlarge the blonde's cleavage. I wanna see more of Ms Goldielocks."

They laughed.

Gohan decided he'd heard enough; it was a frequent thing after all. They were always making crude remarks about any celebrities gracing the gossip pages of the day. Funny, he had no idea that Hercule _had_ a daughter, but given the father, he didn't see how any offspring of his could be attractive.

He snickered, picturing a female Hercule with large biceps, red lipstick and a huge fro. Curiously, he launched his internet browser to look it up, she couldn't possibly be as bad as he imagined if his colleagues were lusting after her. But then his phone starting ringing and by the time he was done with the conversation he had long forgotten about looking up pictures of Hercule's daughter.

It was the Fire Mountain Inspector - the arsonist was awake, and he wasn't talking.

…

She scowled; this was the last thing she needed. She'd been on her merry way to Blue City when she'd got the call from the chief.

Figures that she now found herself surrounded. It was supposed to be a routine thing: she'd fly to the scene, beat someone up, case closed. That's how it had always been.

Apparently today, these guys didn't get that memo.

They were the normal thugs she was used to taking down. They were brutes for the most part. And like brutes, they didn't quite have the mental capacity to know they were royally screwed. But she did have to give them credit. They had managed to lure her here into this situation, hinting there was some intelligence amongst them. They were even armed with various blunt objects, such as baseball bats, two-by-fours, and clubs. Each one looked as if they wanted to beat her black and blue.

That was totally not happening.

Slowly they crept up on her. Crouching herself, Videl scanned each thug, trying to get a read on them. They were all trying to get within swinging distance so that she couldn't beat them first. She was gonna have to change that. There had been a guy edging his way up to her from behind. If she had been that guy, she would have already struck since he had a very nice shot at her blind side. He would have to go first, mostly because her instinct to never let an opponent attack from behind was screaming at her.

With a glance at the other thugs, she knew just how to do it.

Leaning backwards, Videl jumped into the air, planting her hands on the ground and swinging her lower body through the air, performing a backflip. As her feet reached the peak of her flip, she brought her knees into her chest. Bending her elbow, she then pushed off the ground with as much force as she could, launching herself towards her targeted opponent. Thrusting her legs down, she slammed both of her feet into the thugs face, sending him flying off the ground and crashing into the wall behind him. As Videl landed back on the ground, the thug crumpled to a heap, unconscious.

For a moment, the other thugs were stunned by the action. Then as one, they all yelled out war cries as they charged, drawing back their weapons to swing at her.

Instantly, Videl dashed at them, staying low to the ground. One of the closest ones swung at her, bending down to hit her, which caused Videl to leap high into the air, flying over the man's head. Extending one of her legs out, she planted her foot in the face of the thug behind the first man, knocking him off his feet and slamming the back of his head into the ground. That was another one down.

Bending her arm out, her elbow extended, she shot back towards her first attacker, ramming her elbow into his back, causing the man to give a cry of pain. Not hesitating, she drew back a fist and fired it at the back of his head, landing the blow and causing the man to stumble forward. It wasn't a knockout blow, but he would be seeing stars for several moments.

By this point, two of the other thugs had closed in on her, already swinging clubs at her. On instinct, Videl leapt away from them, their swings missing her.

Taking a good look at her remaining opponents, Videl knew she needed to take out another one soon, before the man currently seeing stars recovered and joined back in. This called for one of her father's special moves, one of which that had been passed down the line of every Satan from the family's inception. Her father had entrusted her the technique when she had hit puberty and told her to only use it if someone got "fresh with her."

Dashing at the men again, she summoned all the strength she could and forced it into her leg. Drawing it back, she then swung it at one of the men, shouting "Satan Kick!"

The blow rang true as her foot slammed right into the man's groin, causing him to drop his weapon and give out a high-pitched cry. The Satan Kick had worked again.

Quickly, Videl went with a follow-up punch, slugging the man in the face and forcing him to fly into the man next to him. That would tie up that guy for a moment, allowing Videl to face the only other non-injured guy left.

That man proved to have the brains that the rest of the men didn't. One look at her, then to her foot, then back to her face and the man dropped his baseball bat and ran off. Though Videl wasn't one to let a man escape, she still had two men to take down. Surely the police department could get that guy's name out of his friends here. She had to be quick about things; she had a lunch-date to keep.

Not giving any more thought to him, Videl turned her sights to the other two standing men, one of which was pushing her last victim off of him and to the ground. That left an opening for the Satan girl as she rushed him and threw a barrage of punches into his midsection, knocking the wind out of the guy. With a vicious uppercut, she knocked him out, the man collapsing to the ground.

It was then she caught sight of something from the corner of her eyes. She only managed to turn her head in time to see a metal baseball bat swinging at her. However, instead of going for her head, he went in low and slammed into her shin. Immediately, Videl felt a jolt of pain shoot up her leg, followed by a sickening crack. With a cry, she tumbled backwards, landing on her back as she grabbed her leg.

"I got you now, you skinny bitch," the thug grunted at her, slowly approaching her as he tapped the bat in his hand.

An enraged expression covered the girl's face. If he thought a hurt leg was going to give him an advantage, he was sorely mistaken. However, she wasn't going to let her anger get the better of her. Not right now anyways. Lying there, she let the guy walk closer to her, letting him feel more and more confident of his advantage.

Standing over her, he lifted the bat high over his head. "I'm so going to enjoy this," he said wickedly, a mad gleam in his eye.

That was when Videl raised her hands to the centre of her face, spreading out her fingers, she didn't have time to ponder whether she was doing it right or not, at the first tingling she projected whatever it was she was feeling and ran with it. "Solar Flare!" she cried out, blinding her over eager opponent. As he froze in horror, Videl didn't hesitate, and she lashed out with her good leg, sweeping the thug's legs out from under him.

A comical look appeared on his face as he fell backwards, a cry of surprise coming from his lips as he landed on his ass.

She'd already pushed herself onto her feet, her injured leg screaming at her as she did so. Jumping up, she landed on top of the guy and grabbed him by his shirt collar. Pulling his head up, she punched him hard in the face, forcing his head back into the ground. The clanging of his bat against the ground told her he had dropped his weapon.

Pulling his head back up, she then said "You bastard, I had plans for lunch, now I have to go to the hospital. This is for ruining my day."

A loud scream echoed soon after.

…

The ride to Synergy in Kirsty's car was more than just a little uncomfortable. She didn't speak, so he didn't dare.

He kept his eyes on the piece of paper he held in his hand – a list of everything he wanted to ask as well as a list of tests he wanted performed. He wanted to bring up the subject of him being 'loaned-out,' but a quick glance at her stoic face from the corner of his eyes was enough to kill his confidence.

He sighed, returning back to his list – not that he hadn't memorized it by now. His eyes were glued to patterns of the ink but his thoughts strayed to the arsonist and the conversation he'd had with the Inspector. He frowned. It had been too much to hope that the guy would wake up and confess to his part in the two fires.

"Nerves?"

He jumped. He hadn't been counting on hearing her voice. "N-No," he squeaked, willing himself to get a grip.

She didn't say anything else, making him even more uncomfortable than he'd been. Luckily his phone did him the favor of breaking the new silence.

_Oh shit!_

How could he have forgotten to call and cancel? It was Kata's number flashing on his screen, and he'd clean forgot to call her and cancel their lunch date. Just thinking about how angry she was going to be at being 'stood-up,' it was almost enough to make him ignore the call.

"Hello," he picked up, a familiar sense of dread creeping up on him.

"I'm so sorry, I can't make it," was the first thing she said.

_Eh?_ Could it be that his luck finally turning around? He could hardly believe it. "That's okay, things are a bit crazy with work today."

"You sound _so_ disappointed." she teased, her voice tinted with a faint crackle from the less than perfect connection.

"Heh," he chuckled, his eyes long removed from the list in his hands. His eyes were focused outside his window, though his brain did not register any of the skyscrapers, flashing billboards and satellite dishes that blurred by. "I am, of course I'm very disappointed, but I'm so swamped with work that I was worried we wouldn't have enough time. What about tomorrow?" he asked hopefully. He'd still have a lot of work to do, but he'd definitely plan his day better.

"Err… I don't think I'll be able to this week but we'll see,"

_All week?_ He shifted uncomfortably in the chair. "The whole week? Is anything wrong?" Now he was worried, did she not want to see him anymore?

"Just an insignificant incident involving my leg, I'm about to go in for an x-ray so I can't talk for long. Just wanted to let you know that I wasn't coming."

He straightened up in an instant. "X-rays? What happened? Are you okay? Where are you?" he blurted one question after another, senses on full alert as he scanned the planet for her Ki.

"I'm fine, just a run-in with some crooks swinging bats."

His fingers curled into a fist, crushing the flimsy to-do list inside them while his eardrums thundered with his pulse. _Swinging bats? Someone swung a bat at her?_

"…which was nothing a little Solar Flare couldn't fix," she chuckled. "Feel proud, you taught me well."

There was noise, too much noise in his head, in his heart and he couldn't seem to quiet it with this damn engine humming in his ears as well. How could this happen? "Which hospital Videl? I'm coming over." He stated in a voice he seldom had cause to use.

She laughed. "So you _do_ know how to use my real name."

"Which hospital?" he said more sternly. "I'm coming over."

"And where would that leave the work you have to get done, hmm?"

"How can I possibly concentrate on work when you've been attacked? I-"

"I was not attacked," she cut in calmly. "I was merely assisting the police, this is no big deal. It's probably not even fractured."

He inhaled sharply, he knew how fragile the human body was, and a clash with a swinging bat was... "Which hospital?" he repeated. He already had her Ki pinpointed, and thankfully it seemed calm and even.

She growled. "It doesn't matter, even if you abandoned your responsibilities to come chasing after me, by the time you got to Satan City I'd have finished here and gone home. So you see, there's really no point."

He rubbed the inner corners of his eyes. This playing human game was quickly becoming tiresome. The sooner she knew about him the better, assuming she wouldn't run in the opposite direction of course. He should be able to fly over there to see to her without fuss or headache of how he would explain himself. But she didn't know about him yet, so he _had_ to force himself to play by the acceptable laws of physics, well at least pretend to. "Fine," he relented. "I'll come see you straight after work. What's your address?"

"M-My address?" she squeaked.

"Enough chit-chat Son, we're here." Kirsty's voice slipped in, making him tense up as he realized that he'd completely forgotten himself.

He coughed, feeling embarrassed to have been talking to Videl in Kirsty's presence. Dropping his voice as low as he could, he spoke with his mouth within kissing distance of his phone. "I'm sorry Videl," he more or less whispered. "I'm going into a meeting now. Please text me your address." And like a child about to be scolded, he hung up trying to rescue to crushed paper in his hand.

Kirsty's eyes were as disapproving as ever. "Girlfriend?" she enquired coolly as she unbuckled her seatbelt, long legs slipping gracefully out the car.

Gohan followed their movement involuntarily until he caught himself. He swallowed, unlatching his own belt as he followed suit. "Something like that," he flushed as he matched her long strides.

_Is she?_

…

Erasa cracked her neck and flexed her fingers, a small frown on her face. At this rate she wouldn't be able to submit her manuscript on time, and it was all thanks to her best friend. How in the world did Videl expect her to concentrate on her writing while she was lying in the next room with that hideous leg!

She huffed, abandoning her computer. She wasn't getting anywhere with her writing today. She pushed her chair back and walked barefooted into her tiny kitchen, sticking her head in the fridge in search of something to nibble on.

"Ms V!" she called out. "Want a drink?"

"Sure," came the voice from the bedroom. "What you got?"

"Nothing fit enough for the Champ's stupid brat that's for sure. So you'll just have to settle for grape soda."

"What's your problem now Erasa? Why am I suddenly a brat?"

Erasa grabbed two cans of soda, shut the door and walked into her cozy bedroom. "Catch," she tossed one at her best-friend.

Videl was sitting on the bed, propped up in front of two large continental pillows. She was dressed very simply, a white fitted t-shirt with denim shorts. Her hair was tied up messily at the back of her head; a few loose locks tucked behind her ear. She cradled a print-out on her thighs, her eyes focused on the task at hand. Her reflexes didn't fail her though, for as soon as the soda can came hurtling in her direction, she caught it without turning her head. "Well?" she asked her friend, still not bothering to look up at Erasa. "Tell me why I'm such a brat," she asked absentmindedly.

"Because!" huffed Erasa. "Because you're so... you're so... not sexy!"

Videl rolled her eyes, "You're still on about that? How can I look sexy when my leg is bruised and swollen, not to mention stuck in that?" she pointed at said leg.

Erasa stared at it, frowning at it as she shook her head in disapproval. Her friend's leg was wrapped neatly in white bandages around the calf, but there was evidence of all the bruising and swelling going on underneath. It was obvious from exposed skin of her ankle and foot. She had the leg supported in a bright blue fibreglass splint which just irritated her because there was nothing attractive about it. She supposed a removable splint was better than a full on cast, but... she had seen her friend in this condition before and whereas in the past, having Videl Satan immobilized like this for a few weeks was worrying, she had accepted it with resigned patience because of who her friend was. These types of injuries, and _others_... were just part of her life. And Kami knew she'd come to know the walls of Satan Hospital very well on account of Videl's constant ins and outs. However this time... she didn't have it in her to be resigned or patient. She was thoroughly exasperated with her best friend.

"You idiot!" she scolded yet again. "You should have thought about that before you allowed yourself to get nailed in the leg in the first place! What will Cloud guy say when he gets here and sees you in this sorry state? Really Videl, did you really have to take that call today?"

"He can think whatever he likes, this is part of who I am Erasa, you don't honestly expect me to postpone putting away criminals just because I'm seeing someone, do you?"

"I do!"

Videl laughed, "Why doesn't that surprise me?" she said dryly, eyes turning back to her print-out. "Stop stressing about useless things and come tell me what you think about these two apartments. You think he'll like them?"

"I don't think he'll care Videl! You should be more concerned about what he'll think about _you_. Let me fix up your hair and your face a bit at least, being injured doesn't mean you have to look so unsightly."

"I look fine!"

"The poor guy just lost his home, but he's still driving more than an hour out of his way to come and see you _after_ a long day of work mind-you, he deserves more than just _fine_. He deserves sexy!"

Videl growled, "You are so annoying! Why did I even come here in the first place?" she grumbled.

"Because you begged me to, you ungrateful cow. And if you don't let me fix you up I'll kick you out and then you'll have no place to hide."

"I'm not hiding, I just..."

"Yeah, yeah, you don't want him to know where you live 'cause if he sees that enormous mansion, he'll definitely know what you really are. I get it. Still, he's not gonna be fooled you know, it's obvious that this is _my_ apartment not yours."

"I know. I'll just tell him that I'm crashing here for a while because my very compassionate best friend wants to take care of me."

Erasa rolled her eyes. "So I'm playing nurse am I?" she grinned. "You should have told me earlier. I have a nurse's costume lying around somewhere. Shall I slip it on?" she pouted, fluttering her eyelashes. "Oh Mr Cloud Guy," she began in what Videl called her 'blonde voice'. "Please, take off your shirt and let Nurse Erasa take your temperature."

Videl glared, "Go ahead, if you have a death wish."

Erasa giggled. "Aww, you're cute when you're jealous. If only Sharpener were here to see it, he'll never believe it otherwise. And speaking about our handsome blonde friend, isn't it time you guys made up?"

Videl merely lowered her eyes back to her property list, pretending she hadn't even heard her mention Sharpener's name. Ah well, she was nothing if not stubborn. "I know you heard me Ms Vindictive. I really think it's time that you guys-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. Her eyes lit up instead. "Doorbell!" she squealed excitedly, grinning in Videl's direction. Oh, now she'd get to meet this so called Cloud guy. Videl had really sang his praises, _'he's so handsome Erasa, so perfect Erasa.'_

Yeah right, if he was so perfect, then why didn't he have a flock of girls chasing after him hmm? When it came to these matters, Videl was just too damn sheltered for her own good. The poor girl just probably mistook an average guy for Mr. Perfect. Still, average or not, she was dying, just dying to get a look at him.

High on all the ways she'd be able to tease her best friend about her boyfriend after today, she practically floated to the door on a cloud of blissful giggles. Hurriedly, she unlatched the safety then flung the door open.

"Um, you must be Erasa. I'm Gohan, nice to meet you."

It took her awhile to scrape her jaw from the floor. Okay, so maybe Videl _did_ know the definition of attractive.

...

_That's the chapter guys! Thoughts, feelings... anything?_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**This chapter is brought to you by gue22**

…

Even _he_ was starting to feel unhappy given the miserable mood she'd maintained since their home burnt down. With an uncharacteristically melancholic sigh, Goku peeled the covers and climbed into bed. He was tired, even he had his limits. He'd been in super speed all day, working as fast as he could on the foundation of their new home. It was an easy enough task, more so now than back when he was a kid, but maintaining that kind of speed for eight hours was tiring.

"Come on Chichi, you have to cheer up sometime," he urged his grumpy wife. "I'll have the new house finished by next week, I promise."

"That's not the point!" she snapped, deciding to use that moment to angrily turn off the night light.

Goku resisted the urge to snatch her up and tickle-out her anger; he'd tried this approach many times in their marriage, but the effects were always temporary. Crossing his arms behind his head, he turned slightly to her side. "Then what is?" he asked calmly. "Why are you so angry?" If he could demonstrate the aura of her Ki with a blast, it would be one strong enough to bury all of FireMountain.

The mattress moved beneath him, a slight shuffle of the sheets and she finally turned to face him. The face that had taught him all things love glaring with a familiar fury. "Why aren't _you_?" she accused bitterly. "Aren't you angry at all? Not even a little bit?" she goaded him.

Goku sighed, turning his eyes up to the ceiling. Unlike the one from their destroyed home, this ceiling was snow-white, no scorch marks or accidental Ki burns in sight. "You'll only get mad if I say I'm not, so I won't answer." He pouted, moving his hands from the back of his head to settle in a fold across his chest just in time to welcome her screech. Her pillow began to beat down on his face incessantly and he smiled beneath it. He'd seen it coming his way, in all its white slowness, but it would only anger her more if he'd avoided it, so he did nothing.

"You are so frustrating!" she huffed, giving up her attempted thrashing by soft pillow, when it had no effect. "Doesn't it bother you that we still don't know why he did it? Why he's targeting our son? He hasn't said anything, nothing at all! He just sits there all smug and the police won't even let me touch him."

"You've done enough damage," he reminded her, his hands itching to soothe the knots of pent-up fury he could easily read in her manner. She hated helplessness because more often than not, their life together had reduced her to just that too many times.

"He's targeting my precious son; if he's still breathing, then it's not nearly enough," she huffed.

"None of the fires have actually _hurt_ Gohan. Well, physically," he added. He didn't really understand the details, but Gohan said he was gonna be in trouble at work. Goku scowled. It's true that Gohan had looked real beat-up about it. It's not as if he hadn't thought about why someone was setting fires on his son's toes. He'd figured Gohan'd figure it out sooner or later. After all, Gohan was real smart. And besides, _he'd_ been too busy thinking about how to fix all the damage. Many things he'd be able to take care of using just the land. But there were things he'd need money to replace.

"Look Goku," she said tiredly. "Gohan's worked very hard to have the opportunities he has, a blemish on his name could threaten all that. I'm no expert, but the business world can be very unforgiving. Didn't you see his little face this morning? He was so worried!"

Goku resisted the laugh brewing in his stomach. Chichi would never see Gohan as a grown man. She still saw stubby feet and round cheeks. She was as protective of him as she'd always been. It couldn't be helped. After returning from the afterlife, he'd promised himself that he'd make it up to her, for doing it alone for so long. He'd sworn that he'd do whatever he could to keep her smiling. "I'll go." He was oblivious to many things he knew, but he wasn't as bad as to not notice that she wasn't smiling right now – not since the fire.

He threw off the covers, "I'll just get the answers out of that guy myself."

* * *

Videl looked up from her reading, a warm smile on her face. "You made it," she said easily, her fingers gripping lightly at the pages in her hand.

"It was pretty straight forward," said Gohan. "My GPS hasn't failed me yet," he exhaled, trying for a smile. But really, he just wanted to wrap his arms around her in relief and keep her close so she would never get hurt like this again. That, or shake her and demand the identity of the ones who had dared to touch her.

Taking a few steps into the room, he loosened his tie instead - Erasa had already taken his jacket from him at the door. "How are you feeling?" The distance between him and the bed on which she was sat was just too great for his comfort. So he closed it, swiftly.

"I'm fine," she said easily. It sounded rather frivolously to him, given what she'd been through. "I'm still on a high from pulling off the Solar Flare without a hitch you know. It worked like a charm," she beamed.

Gohan stared at her enthusiasm in disbelief. How could she be so happy? Obviously it hadn't worked nearly well enough – not if she had a fractured leg! "But you're injured," he began to protest.

"Yeah, but this is nothing," she said flippantly. "It's only a green-stick fracture; I'll be up and about in a few short weeks." She flashed him a conspiratorial smile.

Kami, this girl - she'd be the death of him for sure. He untucked his shirt and rolled up the sleeves – he had to do something to ease the tension. When he'd stepped through the threshold of the tiny room, his eyes falling on her injured form – he had filled up with so much dread, it had tied itself up in multiple knots of tension throughout his body. His quick mind had promptly deduced that either the fibula or tibia was fractured. He was hoping it was the smaller bone - it would heal faster and impede her less.

He'd felt a little assured since she was immobilized by a removable brace rather than a permanent cast – he'd deemed it a possible good sign.

Feeling a little less…constrained, he sat down on the bed next to her. All afternoon he'd been going out of his mind with worry and impatience and yet...she sat there so calmly, dismissing her injuries and clearly oblivious to how much she'd worried him. She had no idea that she'd stolen the productivity out of the rest of his day. What should have been a thrilling afternoon of discovery with Kirsty at Synergy had merely turned into a blur of wasted time in his impatience to get to her.

The mattress made a small dip at the corner from his added weight. He found himself running his hands down his face – perhaps he meant to wipe off the worry lines. Either way, he didn't want her to guess at how his heart was wound and wrung with worry and indecision all afternoon. He was here now and though injured…her spirit was untouched. To be quite honest, if not for the colorful immobilized leg in plain view, one would never believe that this was a girl who'd just suffered a vicious assault.

Which is why, no matter her cheerful disposition, Gohan just couldn't bring himself to stop scowling. How could he when his eyes were looking at the swollen and discolored foot peeping at him from inside the boastfully colorful brace? How was he supposed to get passed the fact that some…some unforgivable bastard had dared to raise and slam a bat on her leg?

"It's not as bad as it looks," she said hurriedly. "Please don't look like that."

"I just don't understand how this could have happened," he said truthfully. "Where were the police? You said you were helping them for some reason right? How could they rope you into their affair then be careless enough to let you get hurt?"

"They didn't _rope_ me into anything," she said calmly. "They needed a little extra help, so I volunteered. _I_ was the careless one, not them. Just let it go, please? It only brings back sour memories."

He sighed – he didn't understand at all, not at all. Why should she be helping the police in the first place? Was it obligatory? He knew from his studies that in exchange for a pardon or a light-sentence for certain crimes, it was possible for one to become a Confidential Informant – a CI. Could that be why? It had to be. Why else would she be called on by the police and assume such risks? Looking at her face, he couldn't picture her committing any kind of crime, but…how else could her somewhat risky behavior be explained? She was supposed to be a regular grad student, but…she had state of the art tracing equipment at her fingertips – she had to be working with the police. Whomever it was she was giving information to the police about must have found out and…

His hands were trembling, he realized. If she was in some kind of trouble then he could help! He'd gladly shoulder it, he'd…but in order to help her, she'd have to trust him enough to open up about it. As much as he burned to know, he couldn't...he _wouldn't_ pressure her into talking about it before she was ready. Wasn't _he_ keeping secrets of his own? "I'll try," he relented.

"Voila!" a rather cheerful voice interrupted from the threshold. In walked the bubbly girl he'd met at the door. "I've put them in a vase," she announced happily. "Look Ms Victim-of-Assault, aren't they just gorgeous?" She directed Videl's attention to the flowers he'd brought for her – he'd almost forgotten about them. After opening the door and introducing herself, the blonde girl had ushered him into her apartment rather brusquely, practically wrestling his packages from him. He shifted his weight slightly on the bed – he had to admit, they looked far more elegant in that long ceramic vase than before.

"Y-You...you didn't have to," Videl flushed, her eyes following the movement of the vase as her friend brought it closer to the bed for her inspection.

"Smell them," prompted said friend, shoving the flowers right into the dark-haired girl's face. "Isn't that amazing? Just what this room needs!" she beamed.

Videl did as she was told; she brought her nose to the flowers and took a small whiff. "They do smell nice," she smiled. Turning to him, she said "You really shouldn't have gone to the trouble, but thank you."

"Uh," he scratched his head. "It was nothing." Distraught and impatient about waiting till end of day, he had vented his frustrations out on Lime over the phone. _She_ was the one who'd reminded him to stop for flowers and some kind of comfort food – she'd recommended chocolate. "It was really no trouble at all," he added sheepishly.

"Nonsense," the blonde cut in. "I'd say it was a _lot_ of trouble. Especially since he also brought your favorite cinna-rolls Ms Very-Spoilt."

Gohan didn't miss how quickly Videl's face lit up. "From PitchCoffee?"

"Duh," said Erasa, clearing space on a rather messy chest with one hand. She then placed the vase in the center, standing back just a little to admire her work.

Videl stared at him. "You stopped at PitchCoffee? Really?" There was something strangely ravenous about her tone. He almost chuckled at the child-like enthusiasm. He was glad because that's why he'd opted for the cinna-rolls in the first place. It was a carefully filed away memory from one of their long-into-the-night conversations of their earlier days – the days before they'd ever met in person. The way she'd raved about those cinna-rolls in the middle of the night, she'd got him tempted enough to fly out of his way just to try them out. And he'd never looked back either – they were just _that_ good. Yeah, she'd got him addicted to those damn things, pretty much the way she'd got him started on comic books. "Uh, yeah…it was on my way anyway," he shrugged.

She touched his arm lightly. "You really didn't have to," she began to say.

"Well he did!" her friend cut in impatiently. "Now, just beg me for one already," she demanded, a sly smile growing on her face. "I know you're dying to."

Videl huffed, turning up her nose. Their interaction made him chuckle. He decided right then that he liked this Erasa.

"What's this? The haughty-doughty face?" remarked Erasa. "Okay, I'll just take the whole box over to my boyfriend's then. I'm sure _he'll_ be willing to beg for them, among other things." She grinned.

"Don't you dare Erasa!"

The blonde chuckled. "Consider them as rent!" she laughed as she slipped out of the room.

Gohan felt himself being shoved. "It will take me too long to get up. Go stop her!"

"I'm sure she's just kidding?" said Gohan. Surely she was, he _did_ bring them for Videl after all. Not that he minded if they shared.

"That's because you don't know her – go!" She pushed him again.

Chuckling, Gohan obeyed. He slipped out the door and wandered to the kitchen. It wasn't exactly difficult to find, the apartment was very small.

"Ah," he scratched at his head when he found the blonde with keys in her hand, the box from PitchCoffee cradled in her other hand. "Err…you're not really gonna take them all are you?" he asked sheepishly.

The blonde laughed at him, making him uncertain of their motive. "She must really trust you. Videl wouldn't just send anyone to retrieve her precious cinna-rolls."

He chuckled. "Um, I think she kinda…didn't have a choice?"

She laughed again, short blonde hair bouncing as she threw a bronze purse over her shoulder. The thick black strap of the purse was a direct contrast to the thin white straps of her short dress. Despite her bare footedness, with those keys dangling in her hand, she looked very much like she was leaving – _with_ the rolls cradled in her arm in tow. "What's your deal anyway Cloud guy?"

"Huh?" he blinked. The mirth in her eyes was shrouding something else he couldn't quite read. Something making them darken beyond their calm ocean blue. "I don't understand."

"You're a pretty handsome guy right? Tall, smart…successful? " She walked up to him warily.

"Uh," sure he was tall-_ish_, but…he wouldn't exactly describe himself as handsome and successful, maybe smart…_maybe_…"I'm just an intern." he said uncertainly.

"Sure, for now. But a guy like you should have no reason to resort to the internet just to get a date right? Unless…"

"Actually…" he began to say, but something about the way she was looking at him made him squirm – tiny and weak as she was.

"Maybe you've slept your way out of options, mnn?"

_Wha…What was she saying? S-Slept his way out of options?_

"Maybe," she continued. "You've _done_ all your female colleagues, the entire girl population in your neighborhood, and all the girls that frequent the places that you and your friends hang out in, mnn?"

_Was she freaking joking? The only girl he'd ever slept next to was Lime, and she'd soo castrate him if he even thought of…besides she was like a sister to him!_

"Maybe they know you by reputation," she carried on, "and won't even come near you anymore. I know way too many guys like that. Well? What's your deal? Are you messing around with my friend?" A little finger poked him in the chest.

_Whoa!_ "No! I can't believe you would…" He took a deep breath and exhaled. "I just _like_ her. I like her so much that I still can't believe my luck!"

"_And _that's all?"

"What else could there be?"

"Okay then," she chirped warmly, the darkness that had veiled over those blue eyes a thing of the past. He blinked. Did he imagine it? "Here," she shoved the black and brown PitchCoffee box at him, "better get these to Ms _Volatile _before she decides to stand on that leg.

Then she slipped out of the kitchen.

Gohan stood dumbly with the box in his hands for a few minutes. _What the hell was that? _He cleared the cobweb of confusion and turned, heading back to the bedroom. Seemingly, he arrived just in time to catch the last tidbits of their conversation.

"…invalid, I'll be fine." Videl was saying.

"Okay," said Erasa, twisting around in her shoe as she slipped it on. "I'll be back first thing in the morning." She grabbed a bottle of perfume and squirted a small amount on her wrists, then rubbed it gently at the base of her neck. Despite the infinitesimal amount, the fragrance filled the room as she walked to the bedside table, pulling open a drawer. "God, I really have to get some writing done this week. I'm already behind," she said absentmindedly.

Gohan flushed when he noted what she'd just pulled out – a box of condoms. He only recognized them because they were exactly the same brand that Yamcha gave him for his 18th birthday. Now they were nonexistent, burned down with the rest of his home.

"…a distraction," Videl was saying. "I can be gone when you-"

"Nonsense," Erasa dismissed. "Stay as long as you want."

"Are you sure?" Videl asked skeptically.

"You bet," the short haired girl assured her, already walking towards his direction. Rather sheepishly, he realized that he was still hovering in the doorway like an idiot. He hadn't known what to do with himself while the two girls said their farewells. Stepping in further into the room, he moved to the side so she could pass.

"No hanky-panky on my bed!" she called over her shoulder, laughing as she disappeared.

Gohan blushed – as if he'd even think of such a thing. This Erasa…he shook his head. He could hear the click of the lock, the creak of the door and the clank of her footsteps as she left the apartment.

It was just the two of them now.

* * *

He was annoyed because he'd had to leave his house in such a rush that he'd forgotten his hat. He liked that hat, or more truthfully, he couldn't stand the way his red hair always attracted weird stares. He wasn't that old, but sadly he'd inherited the wilting, balding gene from his worthless father's side. Straightening out his uniform, the Inspector of Mt. Frypan twisted the lock and stepped into the holding cell.

"Oh hey, Inspector!" the last face he was expecting to find in with the prisoner greeted him.

The Inspector scowled, his long thin face wilting like an old carrot. He ignored the intruder's greeting and faced his deputy. "What the hell is _he_ doing here?" he questioned. The Deputy had called him here all breathy and dramatic like the prisoner had escaped or something – making him forget his hat! What was the meaning of finding him entertaining Ox King's son-in-law in the prisoner's cell? "Well, Deputy?"

"I…err," he watched the taller man squirm. Truth be told, he didn't like his deputy very much. The man was just too damn cheerful for his tastes. "He err… wanted to question the prisoner, Sir." said the deputy uncertainly.

"And you just gave him the key, didn't you?"

"No Sir, actually…err, when I came in to check on the prisoner, he was already here," he chuckled nervously, his eyes darting from his to the spiky-haired intruders. "He says he uh…that he uh, kinda just _appeared_ in here, and that's why I thought it best to call you."

"Leave us," commanded the Inspector.

"Right away Sir." The taller man bowed all the way down to his waist before he made his leave.

"The prisoner is off-limits to you and your family; I know you're royalty, but…we have rules," said the Inspector tautly.

"Uh, yeah…sorry about that," the intruding in-law apologized. The Inspector clenched his jaw at his flippant manner. How dare he mock him with that smile? But the man just kept talking much to his annoyance.

"My wife's been real mad about this fire and all," he continued easily. "So I thought I'd come by and see what I could find out."

"I am aware of your _talents_," he said the word with a hint of disgust. "But using them in the middle of the night to accost the prisoner will not be tolerated."

"I wouldn't!" the man denied childishly.

Humph, the man had even more nerve denying his brutal ways. He was very much aware of the prisoner's condition when he was handed over to the police. He didn't believe for a second that Ox King's daughter had a hand in it like they claimed. A delicate flower like that…

"I just came to get some information from his head is all," the taller man concluded with a pout.

Chapped lips thinned in an angry line. "Oh, and how do you plan on doing that? Bribing him with food?"

"Heh…nuh uh, no need," the fool said happily, his snide comment obviously rolling off of him without effect. "I've already done it."

"You mean he…talked?" he asked incredulously, his eyes darting to the prisoner. The man still looked out for the count.

"Not really," the taller man rubbed the back of his head. "I kinda just…touched him a little and saw it in his head?" he half-grinned, half-grimaced.

The Inspector merely stared – unimpressed by this spout of nonsense. For a second he'd thought the prisoner might have opened up. Foolish.

"It's true, I saw some stuff like…he's working with some people, couldn't really see their names and stuff, but-" the inspector did a double take when a foreign expression crossed the man's face. Brows dipped, eyes narrowed, the man actually looked…imposing. He had never seen him do anything but grin like an idiot, stuff his face, or somehow use his _talents _to destroy public property.

"But what?" he found himself asking, compelled by that serious expression, even though it was ludicrous that he'd "seen in his head."

"If we don't stop them, they're gonna hurt a lot more people."

The Inspector caught himself before he was taken in by that serious look. This was all nonsense after all. "Look, Mr. Son-"

"Goku," he corrected. "Just call me Goku."

He narrowed his eyes. "Look, _Mr._ Son. I know that you and your sons, I know you have some extraordinary _gifts_. We've had to do our share of covering up for the family over the years. But you can't expect me to believe that you just _saw_ inside the prisoner's head. That kind of thing will not hold up in a court of law."

"But I did!" he stomped.

The Inspector gritted his teeth – there he was again with that childish manner. He would not be reduced to arguing with the likes of _him._ It was best to dispel this claim right here and now.

"Go ahead then, tell me what I'm thinking right now."

"I can't do that," the man shook his head.

"As I thought," the Inspector pursed.

"Chichi said to never look into people's heads unless it was an emergency. She'd kill me if she found out!"

The Inspector regarded his fearful child-like eyes. Really, as if the esteemed Ox King's daughter was capable of causing him harm. _Humph! _"Just between us men then," he said against his better judgment. "If you don't tell her, neither will I. If you expect me to believe your claims Mr. Son, at least give me some proof."

The dark-haired man pouted like a child, and that ridiculous look was the very reason the Inspector despised him so much. He could feel his insides gnawing at him in protest just being around him.

"Mmmk, I'll just take a small peek 'kay? But you gotta swear not to tell Chichi."

The Inspector stood-up straight, adjusting the collar of his uniform jacket when a hesitant hand touched his head, unable to help the first thought that came to mind.

"That's not very nice," came the unexpected growl.

The Inspector was startled by the look he found the dark-haired intruder looking down on him with. This one was etched on his features rather brazenly – the intensity making him gulp as he took a step back.

"Chichi's my wife."

* * *

More than two hours after Erasa's departure from her apartment, the box of cinna-rolls lay empty on the wooden chest, leaving a very full and satiated duo on the bed. Seemingly a dozen rolls were no competition for their combined stomachs. They'd binged on them as dinner _and_ desert with Gohan raiding the kitchen to brew some coffee after.

Now they sat on the bed side by side, Gohan's shoes discarded, their legs stretched out before them like logs of lumber from the mill. Videl had finally remembered the property list she'd wanted to show him.

Gohan scanned the document, his eyes taking in the pictures leisurely, and then he saw the price – and cringed. "Um, Videl...there's no way I can afford this."

"Really?" She looked surprised.

"I'm an intern, I make close to nothing."

"Oh, okay then." She took the pages from his hands. "I'll tell the agent not to bother. What can you afford?"

He grimaced. How, just how had he allowed himself to get into this predicament? He really, really, didn't need an apartment. Still, he grabbed the pencil from her lap and scribbled down a number.

He watched her face as she took it in. "I see," she said neutrally, "I'm sure he'll figure something out. You'll probably have to live further out though. Your office is in the heart of the city. There's nothing in this price range around those parts."

"That's to be expected I guess," he scratched his head. Hopefully this agent of her father's would fail miserably in trying to match his budget with a suitable apartment. That way he might be able to get off without renting one. Though...it _would_ be kinda nice to have a place of his own where they could be together like this. A place that afforded them privacy if they wanted to...uh... do _stuff._ He flushed, guilt following closely behind those thoughts. He cleared his throat.

"Oh, by the way," she added. "There's another thing…" she flipped through more pages, "that I want to show you."

"More apartments?"

"No, it's about the fundraiser," she kept shuffling. "Famous couples right?"

"Uh, yeah...I keep forgetting about that little detail. I've actually never had to dress-up like that before," he frowned. He'd been so busy with the arduous task of acquiring an actual date that he hadn't bothered to think beyond that. With only six days left, he _should_ have thought about it.

"Well, not to worry. I think I have the perfect solution for us!" She passed him yet another print-out. "Since you idolize him so much, how about it?"

Poleaxed, Gohan choked and coughed on his own saliva. Staring at him from the print-out was a slightly out-of-focus picture of his parents from the 23rd Martial Arts Championship. His mother was clinging to his father's arm for dear life, and his father was just there, looking ever the clueless fiancé that Gohan knew him to have been. If he wasn't so horrified by the moment, he might have laughed at his poor father's expression.

"What's wrong? I thought you're his biggest fan?"

He pounded on his chest, clearing his throat. "I am, I am, but um...I don't think dressing up as _them_ is such a good idea."

She stared up at him with disbelief. "You're kidding right? I thought you'd be thrilled."

"I...uh..."

"I know those Gi's are hardly glamorous, but even though it's a ball, since everyone is supposed to dress up, I don't think they'll be _that_ out of place. Besides, with my leg like this," she passed a fleeting glance at the immobilized leg, "I thought dressing like a fighter would fit – just part of the costume you know…" she trailed off.

It was clear to Gohan that she'd given the idea some serious thought. He hated to disappoint her but..."What about Olibu and Meganeese?" he blurted out. "They're a pretty famous couple of legend right?"

She frowned. "But, according to the legend: Meganeese wasn't really a fighter, more like an evil sorceress. Wasn't she just using Olibu anyway, you know...working for the underworld or something?"

He grimaced. That was _somewhat_ true. Since Olibu and his father had become great friends in Otherworld - Gohan knew all the details of that unfortunate romance. _Yeah, bad choice._ "Yeah, you're right. She wasn't a fighter at all. Sorry."

"Never mind, I only thought of going as fighters 'cause I thought you loved Son Goku."

"I do! But, the thought of my date dressed like mo-" he paused. "dressed like Ms Anonymous," he corrected. "I'd just rather..._not_."

"Why not? You have something against female fighters?" She glared at him.

"No! No! I don't! It's just..."

"Something personal against Ms Anonymous? You don't think she was good enough to get engaged to your hero?"

"That's not it at all! I just..." Oh boy, yet another hole he'd dug for himself. How could he possibly explain how awkward he'd feel if she was dressed as his mother without telling her that the woman in the photograph was in fact his mother? "What about Phoenix and Sleek?" He heard himself sputter.

Blue eyes widened; then froze in a dazzled wonder. Splitting her face was arguably the biggest smile in King Kai's Quadrant. "You'd," she was almost breathless "…really dress up as Phoenix?"

His heart squeezed. That face, it was just like Goten's when he'd been told that his father was coming to visit earth for a day. A face even an evil man wouldn't dare disappoint - there was really no turning back. "Uh, sure," he chuckled nervously, thinking back to her favorite superhero's costume. _Oh-boy..._

"Hmm…a real life Phoenix like in the TV show? I don't know," she bit her lip. "It might be too much for my poor heart." she grinned.

"Now you're just making me hate the guy."

She laughed. "Aww come on, you're still my favorite Vampire." She wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him to her. "Don't be jealous of Phoenix, 'kay?"

"I'm very jealous," he said, allowing himself to be pulled into her embrace. "How can I not be jealous? His wings are bigger, brighter, and definitely fluffier that mine – _even_ in my ultimate bat-form."

She laughed, really laughed - the mattress beneath them lightly trembling from the tremors. The pages she held in her hand crunching noisily as she clutched them to her chest. He couldn't help his own grin – her laughter, everything about her was infectious.

"It's true," she said. "He's just too awesome. There's really nothing I can say to console you."

He shook his head, "Like I said the other day – cruel woman."

She grinned, the arm around his waist tightening as her head found a comfortable spot against his chest.

"It's okay," he sighed. "Phoenix can keep his fancy feathers. I'm happy just being able to hold you like this." He placed his chin on top of her head, taking in the familiar fragrance of her hair. "I'm so relieved you're alright," he added quietly, more to himself than to the warm creature in his arms.

* * *

It was always first - kicking off her heels whenever she entered her apartment. The hair was next, pulling it out of that prudish bun, allowing her follicles to breathe. The seductive, school-mistress sway abandoned, Kirsty skipped to her couch, maneuvering her way expertly through the mess on the floor. Tossing off her glasses carelessly was next on her routine - they served no purpose other than to intimidate or put off the lecherous senior executives lurking at the top floor of her office anyway, so she wasn't too concerned about them. In that testosterone-dominated environment, a girl had to do what she could to get by and never ever give an inch.

She marched to her fridge and pulled out a cold beer, an old dried-out pizza that was days old as well. Pizza was her friend, no matter the circumstances, no matter the trial - pizza, especially cold pizza, washed down with an ice cold beer always hit the spot.

She started for her living room - grateful that Gohan had refused her invitation to crash at her place. Keeping up appearances at home would have been exhausting, but...she knew he'd been a scholarship student and now that he'd lost his home, her conscious wouldn't let her walk away without offering. Skipping happily to the couch, she suddenly paused – she may have been somewhat of a slob when no-one was looking, but she was as sharp as sharp can be. She wouldn't be where she was today if she wasn't.

_Krrrk...Krrrk...Krrrk_

That was a foreign sound. There was nothing in her apartment that should be making that sound - faint as it was.

She stood quite still, beer in one hand, pizza in the other; listening, observing and then...interpreting.

Big brown eyes widened at the realization, and then she was racing fruitlessly against time as she dropped her favourite goodies, throwing herself head first through the kitchen window.

* * *

She was asleep.

If it was any other matter, he might have waited until morning, but Son Goku knew his wife – that would just be suicide. He shook her gently and watched her open her eyes. She always smiled when she awoke, and depending on where her first thoughts landed, she might keep the smile or…frown - as she was now.

"You're back," she said, sitting up, the soft blankets falling lightly to her waist. It was dark, probably too dark for most people to see clearly, but he could see everything just fine. He could make out the movement of the beige fabric against her skin as she lifted her arms to rub lightly at her eyes. He smiled a little, just to himself. It was cute this look – soft sleepy eyes, messy hair – it relaxed him in a way very few things did. "Did you find out anything?" she squinted in the dark.

"Yeah, I did. And you're not gonna like it," he told her truthfully.

She didn't yell; she wouldn't in this situation. She'd always told him that his serious face had a way of sobering even the worst of her tempers.

"How bad is it?" she straightened up, rubbing her arms the way she always did when she was struggling to hold herself in.

"It's not just Gohan they're after, it would be better if it was 'cause he can take care of himself. I should warn him as soon as possible." He tilted his neck in concentration, "Hmm, feels kinda like he's asleep though. You wanna come with?"

"You're sure he's alone?" she asked without a hint of fishing, but Goku knew her too well.

He grinned. "No, he's not alone."

_Now_ she hit him, "Urgh! Goku! And you were planning to just use IT to warn him, _knowing_ he was with this city girl he's been sneaking around to see. Really!" she huffed, a rather pleased grin working its way across her transformed face. "We should at least call him first to warn him you know," she giggled. "_Before_ we startle him."

Goku laughed, circling his arms around her waist – finally he had his wife back. "Alright," he said with wide child-like eyes. "Let's call him first," he grinned. It wasn't often that his wife was in the mood for mischief, so whenever she was, he always ran with it.

* * *

_Bzz…Bzz…Bzz_

He turned his head, burying his face further into the warmth of something soft…fragrant, but…the noise didn't stop - it kept up that incessant buzzing, grating at his ear, hell bent on disturbing his comfortable slumber.

_Bzz…Bzz…Bzz_

Groaning in discontent, Gohan opened his eyes to pinpoint and consequently attack the source of that annoying sound, but…the unexpected assault of bright light attacked his eyes first. He flinched, closing them shut. The lingering sting of the light making him move to further shield and rub at his eyes with his hands, but…seems both his arms were fully occupied. As the realization of where he was and of what he was holding dawned on him, Gohan froze.

_Bzz…Bzz..Bzz_

He hadn't meant to fall asleep here! Not at all, not in Erasa's bed – the last thing he needed was more grief from that blonde. But as usual, they'd talked for way too long, and at some point her last dose of pain meds had taken it's toll. And since she'd already made a pillow out of his chest when she'd finally drifted off, he'd merely secured her in his arms and allowed her to sleep – his eyes never leaving her face.

The unbridled urge to steal a kiss, to press her closer to his body until he could no longer tell her heartbeat from his had burned fierce and strong. But he was no midnight-groper and definitely no _Mr. Busy Hands_ – as Lime had accused one of her suitors - so he'd curbed that urge, controlled it and just…watched her.

Okay, okay fine, so he'd stolen just one tiny, but really _tiny_ little peck from her lips. It was barely for a second - not even worth mentioning except…well, it had stirred all kinds of warmth and longing and other such frightening feelings so much that he'd had to look away and stare at the ceiling until his racing heart had calmed.

When sleep had gravitated towards him at last, he'd refused it, wanting to hold out just a little longer before he left the apartment. But he'd sorely underestimated the sheer comfort his body had edged into. Sleepy eyes had drooped, his arms tightening around her as he brought his head down, resting his cheek against the top of her her sleeping so soundly, so snugly, his own eyes had relaxed until he was fast asleep.

Until that _sound_ - what was it?

_Bzz…Bzz…Bzz…_

Ah, now that he was a little more awake he recognized it - the faint buzz of his phone. Reluctantly, he pulled an arm away from the warm figure in his embrace, reaching out to the bedside table.

"Mom?" He answered in a whisper. He blinked then blinked again… only to widen his sleepy eyes in alarm. "No you can't!" he whispered harshly, desperately, but his mother – his giggling mother had already hung up.

He cursed; calling her back to insist would only slow him down. There was no stopping his mom once she'd decided to do something. He slid his other arm from Videl as smoothly as he could. If she woke in the middle of this "visit" he'd be done for. As the mattress moved from and creaked from the loss of his weight, he cringed, pausing briefly to stare back at her. Luckily she merely crinkled her nose and sighed in her sleep.

Like a cockroach, he crept out of the bedroom and slipped out of the apartment through the kitchen window. He hovered up the building as quickly as he could, landing barefoot on the cold and rough cement. He grumbled, shaking his head as he attempted to straighten out his dishevelled and creased clothes.

Honestly, his parents were the worst! Not five seconds later, they materialized just before him.

"I can't believe you guys," he shook his head. Oh, he knew what those pleased grins on their faces meant."You sensed I wasn't alone, but you _still_ came."

They snickered, much like a younger Goten and Trunks. "Aww come on Son," his father clapped a hand on his shoulder. "At least your mom warned you first right?"

"Barely," he mumbled. "She could have woken up and caught me sneaking."

His mother didn't look apologetic at all. She merely gave him one of her not-so-serious glares. "Serves you right for sneaking around in hotels and Kami knows where else with strange city girls."

"I was not sneaking, and like I told Dad, there's only _one_ girl. You know I'm not like that Mom." He rubbed his arms in embarrassment.

"Are you using protection? You never know with these city girls."

"Mom!" He flushed, curling his toes against the rough cement. "We're not like that," he mumbled awkwardly, especially at the grin plastered on his father's face. "Please can we talk about why you're here? What did that guy say that was so bad that you couldn't wait _or_ tell me over the phone?"

And at the serious look that took over his father's face, Gohan knew that tonight was gonna end just like every other night he'd been with Videl – in total disaster.


End file.
